Although it could be treated with medicine and psychosocial intervention, but in a long time, scientific research have indicated that nutritional intervention may be hypothesized as a promising treatment strategy in Anxiety and other emotion disorder.

The latest article published in 《Nutrients》 on December 14, 2020 evaluated the evidence of current nutritional interventions proved that Ketogenic Diet treatment may be a promising strategy in the future research about anti-anxiety therapy.

The author focus on the biological aspect of the mechanism of ketosis, found that “the direct and indirect influence on the central nervous system of KD can be observed in the increasing of the cerebral blood flow, and the decreasing the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) by the increase of the level of endothelial nitric oxide synthase protein expression.”

A study on the KD mechanism in epilepsy treatment—by Calderon et al. found that the GABA levels were significantly higher in the KD group compared to the control group, and decreases oxidative damage caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS).

 In the article, the author discussed several potential ways for nutrients to alleviate anxiety through the interaction between the brain and neurotransmitters produced by the intestinal system.

Studies have shown that most serotonin is synthesized in the intestinal system, while the ability of synthesizing serotonin and non-adrenal neurotransmitters in the intestine is reduced among those individuals with anxiety disorders.

The author believed that LCHF diet could improve the function of synthesizing serotonin and non-adrenal neurotransmitters in the intestine in anxiety disorders individuals. Meanwhile, ketolytic metabolism produces fewer free radicals and ROS, reduce inflammation, it also seems to influence positively the circulating steroid levels, in particular, that of allopregnanolone, all those maybe the mechanism of anti-anxiety.

On the other hand, people could get the benefit from the LCHF diet which deplete the production of excess glutamate, and reduce the deficiency of GABA related with the gut-microbiota at the same time.

A study on over 121,000 participants concluded that high stress and high neuroticism levels were associated with poorer diet quality. These findings could help establish the right dietary regimen to enhance the GABAergic transmission and support the gut–brain axis.

There is a growing body of literature that links nutrition to mood. The evidence with regard to the gut–brain axis, in which some species of bacteria have the ability to generate the neuroendocrine hormones and/or neuroactive compounds involved in a key aspect of neurotransmission, which may be responsible for the anxiolytic effect.

The findings rationalize the need for more detailed, longitudinal research on the ways in which diet and microbiome interactions may be better understood and managed in order to optimize the reduction of anxiety for the benefit of the patients.

The LCHF diet(eg: MCT keton diet) is a promising, well-accepted diet regimen which has an impact on anxiety disorders, supporting mainly long-term relapse prevention strategies, in combination with the already-approved strategies.

Reference：

https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/12/3822