man opening fridge to eye chocolate cake
LinkedIn

Depression can cause changes in mood, behavior, thoughts, and countless other aspects of daily life related to wellbeing, including appetite, but can depression make you crave carbs, i.e. foods high in carbohydrates like sweets?

A new study called “Altered Food Liking in Depression Is Driven by Macronutrient Composition” explores this exact question, with the goal of understanding why people with depression crave some foods over others.

Given the rates of depression worldwide and in the U.S., research into every aspect of depressive disorders is an important component of safeguarding public health and wellness:

The idea that food and food-related changes in the brain and/or body have an impact on depression, anxiety, and mental health disorders is not a new concept. We’ve published articles on this relationship on our blog:

Can Probiotics Help Depression Treatment?

Gut Microbiome May Play Key Role in Stress Management

Those articles explore the relationship of the gut microbiome – i.e. the millions of microorganisms present in our digestive system – with mental health. The study we’ll explore today, however, explores a different relationship: the interplay between depression and food cravings.

About the Study: Cue Reactivity and Food

To determine the role of depression in food cravings, the research team recruited a total of 117 participants with the following characteristics:

  • 54 with clinical diagnosis of major depressive disorder (MDD)
  • 63 without MDD diagnosis

Participants with MDD completed standard depression surveys to gauge the overall severity of depression and the frequency and severity of depressive symptoms. Once the researchers collected all baseline data, participants engaged in cue reactivity tasks, i.e. tasks that measure how the brain responds to specific external input.

The cue reactivity tasks in the study involved patients viewing neutral pictures of 60 food items and 20 non-food items, then rating them in terms of liking and wanting:

  • How much they liked each item
  • How much they wanted each item

At this point in the study, researchers identified differences in food cravings between people with depression and without depression:

  • Depression:
    • More overall food likes
    • Fewer overall food wants
  • No depression:
    • Fewer overall food wants
    • Fewer overall food likes

Essentially, this part of the study determined that people with depression experience more food cravings, overall, compared to people without depression.

However, the study didn’t end there.

Next, the research team identified the macronutrient content of the food in each picture. As a reminder, macronutrients are the four main types of nutrients your body needs in large amounts to maintain optimal function:

  1. Carbohydrates
  2. Protein
  3. Fat

Then, they cross-referenced the macronutrient content of each food image with the liking and wanting ratings established by participants with depression and without depression.

Here’s what they found.

Compared to carbohydrate-rich foods, patients with MDD reported:

  • Lower liking for high-fat food
  • Lower wanting for high-fat food
  • Lower liking for high protein food
  • Lower wanting for high-protein food

We’ll discuss these results below.

Depression, Craving Carbs, and Treatment: How This Helps

Study co-author Lilly Thurn, interviewed in the online journal Science Daily, indicates that in contrast to the previous belief that among people with depression, craving carbs was solely related to increased overall appetite, the results show that craving carbs has a more direct relationship to specific aspects of depression:

“In fact, carbohydrate cravings are more related to the overall severity of depression, especially anxiety symptoms.”

Lead study author Nils Kroemer adds this insight:

“Since carbohydrate-containing foods control the reward response in the brain via different signaling pathways than fat- and protein-rich foods, it may be possible to derive better treatment approaches from this.”

That’s one way this information helps us help our patients with depression. In addition, this information helps in another way. If we also check in with our patients with depression about the foods they crave – specifically whether our patients with depression experience an increase in cravings for carbs – then we know we should also check in about anxiety-related depression symptoms. Then, based on what we learn, we can modify their treatment plan accordingly.

The study authors suggest avenues of inquiry to further explore the relationship between cravings, diet, and depression, guided by research questions like these:

Do changes in food cravings indicate a change in depression severity?

Can treatment for depression improve by optimizing diet?

Finally, they offer this final insight:

“Therapies targeting the connection between the gut and brain appear particularly promising… studies [show] that fasting or probiotic foods can have an antidepressant effect…and people with depression have changes in their microbiome that could exacerbate various symptoms.”

For our patients with depression, these new developments open up new ideas about how we can tailor treatment plans to match their specific treatment needs and progress. In addition, this research answers the question we pose in the title of this article:

Yes, depression can make you crave carbs!