Dietary fat restriction affects brain reward regions in a randomized crossover trial
Valerie L. Darcey, Juen Guo, Amber B. Courville, Isabelle Gallagher, Jason A. Avery, W. Kyle Simmons, John E. Ingeholm, Peter Herscovitch, Alex Martin, Kevin D. Hall
Valerie L. Darcey, Juen Guo, Amber B. Courville, Isabelle Gallagher, Jason A. Avery, W. Kyle Simmons, John E. Ingeholm, Peter Herscovitch, Alex Martin, Kevin D. Hall
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Clinical Research and Public Health Metabolism Neuroscience

Dietary fat restriction affects brain reward regions in a randomized crossover trial

Abstract

BACKGROUND Weight-loss diets often target dietary fat or carbohydrates, macronutrients that are sensed via distinct gut-brain pathways and differentially affect peripheral hormones and metabolism. However, the effects of such diet changes on the human brain are unclear. METHODS We investigated whether selective isocaloric reductions in dietary fat or carbohydrates altered dopamine D2/3 receptor binding potential (D2BP) and neural activity in brain-reward regions in response to visual food cues in 17 inpatient adults with obesity as compared with a eucaloric baseline diet using a randomized crossover design. RESULTS On the fifth day of dietary fat restriction, but not carbohydrate restriction, both D2BP and neural activity to food cues were decreased in brain-reward regions. After the reduced-fat diet, ad libitum intake shifted toward foods high in both fat and carbohydrates. CONCLUSION These results suggest that dietary fat restriction increases tonic dopamine in brain-reward regions and affects food choice in ways that may hamper diet adherence. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00846040 FUNDING. NIDDK 1ZIADK013037.

Authors

Valerie L. Darcey, Juen Guo, Amber B. Courville, Isabelle Gallagher, Jason A. Avery, W. Kyle Simmons, John E. Ingeholm, Peter Herscovitch, Alex Martin, Kevin D. Hall

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Figure 1

Study design.

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Study design. Seventeen men and women with obesity were admitted as inpa...
Seventeen men and women with obesity were admitted as inpatients to the Metabolic Clinical Research Unit at the NIH Clinical Center. They completed fMRI and PET scans on the third day of a 5-day inpatient eucaloric baseline diet, after which they were randomized to either a 30% reduced-calorie diet achieved by selective restriction of dietary fat (RF diet) or carbohydrate (RC diet). Neuroimaging was repeated on the fifth day of the reduced-energy diet, after which, on days 12–14 of the inpatient stay, participants consumed food ad libitum from vending machines. After a 2- to 4-week washout period, participants were readmitted as inpatients to complete the 5-day eucaloric baseline diet, and neuroimaging was repeated on the fifth day of the alternate 30% reduced calorie diet. During the final 3 inpatient days, participants again consumed food ad libitum from vending machines.