There’s a new study out that compares dieters eating food high in carbohydrates and low on fat with those on a low-carb, high-fat regime similar to the Atkins diet. The results may surprise you.
Bloomberg News reports that, according to the study, which was published Nov. 9 in the Archives of Internal Medicine, “dieters eating food high in carbohydrates and low on fat improved their mood longer than those on a low-carb, high-fat regime similar to the Atkins diet.”
In fact, even though “both diets were equally effective at reducing weight,” the “study of 106 overweight or obese people in Australia found those on the low-fat diet, which included bread, pasta and rice, were less angry, depressed and confused after one year than those who ate fewer carbs and more meat and dairy products.”
The Time “Wellness” blog reported, “The foul moods were surprising, the authors” noted, “because generally obese people who diet and lose weight feel an overall mood lift.”
Specifically, “at week 52, compared to the low-fat group, the low-carb dieters scored much higher…on tests designed to measure anger-hostility, confusion-bewilderment, and depression-dejection,” results consistent “with other studies that link low-carb diets to greater levels of anxiety and depression,” the investigators said.
WebMD reported, “It’s not clear why the mood benefits faded for people in the low-carb group,” but the researchers theorized that “the low-carbohydrate diet may have been too hard and too different from how people used to eat,” being “‘so far removed’ from normal eating patterns that it became a lot of work and a social burden.”
But, according to a story in HealthDay, “More carbs can increase serotonin concentrations in the brain, whereas added fat and protein can reduce concentrations. “