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Abruptly giving up fatty foods is comparable to giving up drugs
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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Most people probably don't find Lenten salads appetizing or enthusiastic, but rather depressing and stressful. When you finally decide to change your diet and switch to eating less fatty and caloric foods, you may feel changes in your body and mood, not only because watching your friends gobble up delicious dishes is bitter and sad, but also because switching to a low-calorie diet causes a number of changes in brain biochemistry.
Scientists from the University of Montreal have found that switching to a diet with less fat leads to chemical changes in the brain and provokes increased anxiety.
A team of neuroscientists has discovered that giving up fatty foods and switching to a leaner diet affects the brain in much the same way as giving up drugs.
Experts conducted a study of brain processes during the refusal of fatty foods on mice. First, the animals received portions of fatty food, where the fat portion made up about 58% of calories, and then they were put on a lean diet, where fat provided only 11% of the energy value.
The experiment included behavioral testing and biochemical analysis of the brains of some test subjects. These experiments were aimed at identifying changes in the concentration of substances critical to the normal functioning of certain parts of the brain.
Despite the fact that the study involved rodents rather than people, it was still possible to establish that a diet that includes foods high in fat can affect the pleasure a person gets from food, as well as anxiety.
To determine how much anxiety levels increased in the animals, the scientists used a simple and effective method. They placed the mice on two intersecting paths, the length of which was several dozen centimeters from the center of the intersection, and placed this structure at a great height. Two branches were closed at the top and sides, and two more were made in the form of open areas resembling small balconies. As a result, the more time the rodents spent huddled in the shelter, the more anxious they were.
In order to assess food motivation and overall satisfaction with life, the experts placed tasty food in front of the animals and timed how long it took the mice to find it.
The findings of the scientists indicate that a number of changes occur in the biochemistry of the brain. When the mice switched to consuming lean foods, their bodies increased the level of the hormone corticosterone, the production of which increases during chronic stress. It was also noted that the concentration of two proteins that perform several different functions at the same time increases. They are responsible for the formation of memory, as well as for the synthesis of new neurons - CREB and BDNF. At first, these changes lead to anxiety and restlessness, and when refusing fatty foods, they cause a craving for food.
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