Researchers find that mice withdrawn from high-fat or high-carbohydrates diets became anxious and showed changes in their brains indicating higher stress levels. Using a variety of standard measures of mouse behaviour, researchers acclimated mice to either high-fat or high-carbohydrate diets, abruptly replaced those diets with standard chow, and observed behavioural changes. The brains of the mice were also examined for increases in corticotrophin releasing factor levels which can indicate high stress levels.
In an article, Decreases in Dietary Preference Produce Increased Emotionality and Risk for Dietary Relapse, Tracy L Bale, PhD, states: “Our behavioural, physiologic, biochemical, and molecular analyses support the hypothesis that preferred diets act as natural rewards and that withdrawal from such a diet can produce a heightened emotional state.”
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