The effects of dietary cholesterol-lowering on psychological symptoms: A randomised controlled study

Gerdi Weidner; Sonja L. Connor; Glenn T. Gerhard; P. Barton Duell; William E. Connor

doi:10.1080/13548500902730101

The effects of dietary cholesterol-lowering on psychological symptoms: A randomised controlled study

Gerdi Weidner
, Sonja L. Connor
, Glenn T. Gerhard
, P. Barton Duell
, William E. Connor

Knight Cardiovascular Institute

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

The relationship of plasma cholesterol-reducing interventions to emotional states, such as depression and hostility, remains a topic of debate. The present study employed a randomised, controlled design, and was conducted at a clinical research center to test the effect of dietary cholesterol-lowering on psychological symptoms. Ten women and eight men were randomly assigned to one of two counterbalanced diet cycles (low-fat versus high-fat diet; isocaloric; 6 weeks each; separated by a washout period). Analyses for repeated measures revealed that the low-fat diet significantly reduced total, LDL and HDL cholesterol, when compared with baseline and the high-fat diet. As expected, weight remained unchanged. Ratings of depression, hostility and global severity of psychological symptoms as measured by the SCL-90-R also improved significantly on the low-fat, high-complex carbohydrate diet when compared with baseline. These results suggest that plasma cholesterol-lowering in the context of a low-fat, high-complex carbohydrate diet may have a beneficial effect on psychological symptoms.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	255-261
Number of pages	7
Journal	Psychology, Health and Medicine
Volume	14
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/13548500902730101
State	Published - May 2009

Funding

We thank the participants, the dietitians (Lauren Hatcher, MS, RD; Reba Clow, BS, RD; Donna Flavell, BA, RD) and the nurses and support staff of the OHSU General Clinical Research Center, who were instrumental in the successful completion of the study. We also thank Heidi Mueller for analyzing the data, Loren Yglecias and Daniel Purnell for their helpful comments on this manuscript, and Dr. Nancy Mendell for her statistical advice. This publication was made possible with support from the Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute (OCTRI; UL1 RR024140) awarded by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), from the German Research Foundation (DFG; MA 155/75-1), and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

Funders	Funder number
National Center for Research Resources
Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung
Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute	UL1 RR024140
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft	MA 155/75-1

Keywords

Cholesterol-lowering
Depression
Diet
Hostility

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Clinical Psychology
Applied Psychology
Psychiatry and Mental health

Access to Document

10.1080/13548500902730101

Cite this

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title = "The effects of dietary cholesterol-lowering on psychological symptoms: A randomised controlled study",

abstract = "The relationship of plasma cholesterol-reducing interventions to emotional states, such as depression and hostility, remains a topic of debate. The present study employed a randomised, controlled design, and was conducted at a clinical research center to test the effect of dietary cholesterol-lowering on psychological symptoms. Ten women and eight men were randomly assigned to one of two counterbalanced diet cycles (low-fat versus high-fat diet; isocaloric; 6 weeks each; separated by a washout period). Analyses for repeated measures revealed that the low-fat diet significantly reduced total, LDL and HDL cholesterol, when compared with baseline and the high-fat diet. As expected, weight remained unchanged. Ratings of depression, hostility and global severity of psychological symptoms as measured by the SCL-90-R also improved significantly on the low-fat, high-complex carbohydrate diet when compared with baseline. These results suggest that plasma cholesterol-lowering in the context of a low-fat, high-complex carbohydrate diet may have a beneficial effect on psychological symptoms.",

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note = "Funding Information: We thank the participants, the dietitians (Lauren Hatcher, MS, RD; Reba Clow, BS, RD; Donna Flavell, BA, RD) and the nurses and support staff of the OHSU General Clinical Research Center, who were instrumental in the successful completion of the study. We also thank Heidi Mueller for analyzing the data, Loren Yglecias and Daniel Purnell for their helpful comments on this manuscript, and Dr. Nancy Mendell for her statistical advice. This publication was made possible with support from the Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute (OCTRI; UL1 RR024140) awarded by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), from the German Research Foundation (DFG; MA 155/75-1), and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.",

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The effects of dietary cholesterol-lowering on psychological symptoms: A randomised controlled study

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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