According to a recent study, low-fat diets seem to improve dieters' frame of mind more than low-carbohydrate diets.

People often follow very low-carbohydrate diet to lose weight, but the long-standing effects on psychological health are unclear.

To come to the conclusion, CSIRO scientists randomly placed 106 overweight and obese people to follow either a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet or a very-low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet or a high-carbohydrate for a period of twelve months.

Researcher Grant Brinkworth and fellow workers evaluated alterations in body weight, mood and well-being at regular time intervals during and after the diets.

Dr. Brinkworth stated, "Possible clarifications comprise the social difficulty of adhering to a low-carbohydrate plan that is counter to the typical western diet crammed with pasta and bread; the prescribed, structured nature of the diet; or outcomes of protein and fat ingestion on brain levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter related to psychological functioning."

After completion of the study period, the general average weight loss of both the sets was 14 kg.

After the first 8-weeks, examinations pointed that study partakers showed an improvement in their mood. But, the majority of measurements of mood disclosed a long-lasting improvement in only those participants following the low-fat diet.

The above discoveries hint that some facets of the low-carbohydrate diet may have had negative effects on frame of mind that, over the term of a year, contradicted any encouraging effects of weight loss.