HEALTH: On a diet? It's no wonder you're feeling miserable
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Dieting to lose weight may lead to depression by altering brain chemistry, research showed yesterday. Women experienced clinical depressive symptoms when a protein component called tryptophan was removed from their diets, said the researchers. Tryptophan is an amino-acid precursor of serotonin, a chemical messenger in the brain which is linked with mood.
A standard 1,000-calorie carbohydrate restricted diet would lower blood plasma levels of tryptophan enough to alter serotonin function in healthy women, the researchers, led by Dr Katy Smith from the psychopharmacology research unit at Oxford University, wrote in The Lancet.
In the study, 15 women prone to episodes of depression were asked to drink a nutritionally balanced mixture, or one that contained no tryptophan. They then spent seven hours alone in the laboratory. Each volunteer drank both mixtures, separated a week apart, but did not know which was which.
After drinking the tryptophan-free mixture there was a 75 per cent reduction of tryptophan in the blood plasma, and 10 of the women suffered clinically significant depressive symptoms. No mood changes occurred after they drank the balanced mixture.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments