New Delhi, October 21 (IANS). People who eat excess junk food can counter its ill effects on mental health by doing cardio exercise like running, according to an animal study on Tuesday.
Researchers at University College Cork, Ireland, have identified specific metabolic pathways through which exercise counteracts the negative behavioral effects of a Western-style diet.
Research suggests voluntary running reduces depression caused by a high-fat, high-sugar diet, which is linked to both circulating hormones and gut-derived metabolites.
Professor Yvonne Nolan, from the university, said: “These findings provide important insights into how lifestyle changes can be used to improve mental health in an era of widespread ultra-processed food intake.”
In the study, published in the journal Brain Medicine, the team fed adult male mice either a standard diet or a rotating cafeteria diet consisting of various high-fat and high-sugar foods for seven and a half weeks, with half of the mice in each diet group being driven to running wheels.
The study showed that voluntary running had antidepressant effects on rats, suggesting that physical activity may be beneficial for individuals consuming a Western-style diet.
Professor Nolan and his team found that diet altered the gut metabolome, affecting 100 of the 175 metabolites measured in sedentary animals.
“Exercise showed more selective effects, controlling only a subset of these changes,” Nolan said. Three metabolites previously associated with mood regulation had altered response patterns. Anserine, indole-3-carboxylate and deoxyinosine, were all reduced by the cafeteria diet, but partially restored by exercise. Have become.”
In addition, the research used extensive behavioral test batteries to assess multiple areas of brain function.
Although junk food alone did not affect the memory of these adult rats, exercise did modestly improve spatial navigation (an organism’s ability to find and determine its path from one place to another).
The team also examined anxiety-like behaviors, and discovered subtle anxiety-reducing effects of exercise independent of diet composition.
The findings suggest that exercise can improve mood regardless of diet quality, but that nutritional status may need to be addressed to achieve full neuroplasticity benefits.
–IANS
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