The Effect of a Novel Dietary Intervention on Weight Loss in Psychotropic Drug-Induced Obesity

Weight gain associated with the use of psychotropic drugs may be related to their blockade of serotonin receptors, which mediate satiety. Obese individuals whose weight gain followed psychotropic drug use, or control nondrug-treated obese subjects, were treated with a 12-week weight loss program that included a carbohydrate-rich, protein-poor beverage thought to increase brain serotonin. The 38 psychotropic drug-treated females lost slightly more weight than their 60 nondrug-treated controls, i.e., 13.4 ± 1.8 pounds versus 12.1 ± 1.1 pounds. The eight drug-treated males lost 26 ± 4.1 pounds, and their 12 nondrug-treated controls lost 22.2 ± 3.2 pounds. Weight loss was significant in all groups (all P < .001). A treatment program that included a high-carbohydrate dietary supplement caused as much weight loss among patients on psychotropic drugs as among control obese patients, without blocking the drugs’ therapeutic effects. Psychopharmacology Bulletin. 2002;36(3):55-59