"Many people with depression suffer from a general loss of appetite. Others have more appetite during a depressive episode and even develop food cravings - especially for sweets. These changes can then lead to a change in body weight", said corresponding author Prof. Nils Kroemer, of the University Hospital of Tübingen, in a press release.
“Despite these reports, little is known about the eating preferences of patients with depression, even though this information could perhaps promote new therapeutic approaches,” he added.
In the current study, researchers recruited 54 patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and 63 healthy control participants. Participants were asked to complete a food cue reactivity task, which involved rating their wanting and liking for 60 food items and 20 non-food items. They then explored associations between macronutrients and depicted items to evaluate which food components contribute to depression.
Ultimately, they found that people with depression had fewer cravings for foods rich in fat and protein relative to healthy controls, and that they tended to prefer carbohydrate-rich foods like sweets. Those with MDD also had an increased craving for foods containing both fat and carbohydrates, like milk chocolate.
It was previously thought that cravings for carbohydrate-rich foods were linked to a larger appetite.
“We were now able to show that this is not the case. In fact, carbohydrate cravings are more related to the overall severity of depression, especially anxiety symptoms," said first author of the study Lilly Thurn, a Master's student at Maastricht University, in a press release.
The researchers concluded that depression-related alterations in food reward ratings are more linked to food macronutrient composition than previously thought, signaling towards disturbances in gut-brain signaling. This, they noted, poses the question of whether interventions targeting the gut may help normalize reward signals for foods rich in fat or protein.
Sources: EurekAlert, Psychological Medicine