Fat Type Might Be the Answer to Your Lack of Motivation to Exercise

The brain func­tions on a series of trans­mis­sions of sig­nals from neu­rons and in return releases selected chem­i­cals within the body, known as neu­ro­trans­mit­ters.

One of these chem­i­cals is dopamine. Touted as the reward and plea­sure-dri­ving chem­i­cal, it is also the neu­ro­trans­mit­ter which plays a big role in moti­va­tion and the degree to which we are or aren’t moti­vated to com­plete a cer­tain task -– like get­ting off the couch and go for a run.

And while sci­en­tists have long known about this rela­tion­ship and have been research­ing dopamine’s role and effects, new research offers insight into the role that fat con­sump­tion may have on this neu­ro­trans­mit­ter, and on your moti­va­tion as a result.

In a study, pub­lished by the University of Montreal, researchers showed that rats who over­con­sumed sat­u­rated fat had decreased func­tion in mesolim­bic dopamine release and sig­nal­ing. The con­sump­tion of monoun­sat­u­rated fat did not yield the same results.

In fact, the study showed that intake of sat­u­rated lipids can sup­press dopamine sig­nal­ing, which leads toward a decrease in moti­va­tion. When this was com­pared to an intake of the equiv­a­lent amount of monoun­sat­u­rated fat, the out­come showed that this type of fat can pro­tect against these changes and bet­ter sus­tain the body’s nat­ural propen­sity towards reward and moti­va­tion.

It has long been rec­og­nized that con­sump­tion of dietary fat can con­tribute to issues of phys­i­cal health, such as car­dio­vas­cu­lar dis­ease and obe­sity. Less research has been released on its effects on men­tal health and brain func­tion. The increas­ing trend towards using fat as fuel, how­ever, and its appar­ent energy-boost­ing ben­e­fits have led researchers to gain a deeper under­stand­ing of fat’s impact on the brain.

One of these areas which has shown up is in the brain’s reward cir­cuitry sys­tem. The pre­cise means by which sat­u­rated fats alter the brain chem­istry is still not fully under­stood, but some researchers are see­ing that it works partly by chang­ing the expres­sion of dopamine-related genes. This, in turn, affects how the body receives and sends sig­nals related to moti­va­tion and reward.

Dropping this into con­text, the research offers fur­ther evi­dence toward the need to reduce intake of sat­u­rated fat in the diet, not only from a health con­di­tion per­spec­tive but also to allow for bet­ter brain func­tion when it comes to moti­va­tion and reward.

The intake of sat­u­rated fat, which con­tributes to obe­sity, is also a lead­ing con­trib­u­tor to one’s lack of moti­va­tion, which could have an impact when it comes to things requir­ing a high moti­va­tional input, such as exer­cise. The lack of moti­va­tion and exer­cise fur­ther per­pet­u­ate the poten­tial obe­sity prob­lem, and as such the cycle feeds itself.

Monounsaturated fat intake may be able to pro­tect against these moti­va­tional declines and the con­sump­tion of olive oil and other monoun­sat­u­rated fat sources is highly encour­aged.

• University of Montreal


• Expression of Dopamine