According to new evidence, women who have higher levels of the appetite-controlling hormone leptin have fewer symptoms of depression.
Animal studies have suggested that that leptin may reduce anxiety and improve depression. The new research is another step towards confirming that leptin may indeed have antidepressant qualities.
Eurekalert reports:
“Leptin, the product of fat cells, signals satiety, or fullness ... [T]here is an increased prevalence of anxiety and depression in certain conditions in which leptin levels are typically low. These include the eating disorder anorexia nervosa, in which there is abnormally low weight and body fat, and functional hypothalamic amenorrhea, in which women have stopped menstruating despite having normal weight.”