MINI REVIEW article

Front. Psychiatry

Sec. Public Mental Health

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1584890

Less is More: Calorie Restriction as a Therapeutic for Mental Health Disorders

Provisionally accepted
Jason Cao Diep NguyenJason Cao Diep Nguyen1,2Antonina GovicAntonina Govic2,3Elizabeth Anna LevayElizabeth Anna Levay2,3Matthew David ZelkoMatthew David Zelko2Thiruma Valavan ArumugamThiruma Valavan Arumugam1Jim PenmanJim Penman2Terrance Grant JohnsTerrance Grant Johns2,3*Zoran BoskovicZoran Boskovic3*
  • 1School of Agriculture, Biomedicine and Environment, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
  • 2Epigenes Australia, Melbourne, Australia
  • 3School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia

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Anxiety, depression, and substance use disorders are prevalent mental health disorders that have debilitating health outcomes, and current treatment options are not always efficacious or tolerable. Calorie restriction (CR) has various health benefits, with research efforts focused on its effects in improving metabolic health and delaying biological aging. Recent studies have indicated that CR can also improve anxiety-, depression-and addiction-like symptoms and behavior. Similar benefits have also been observed in studies investigating a range of CR mimetics (CRMs) -molecules that mimic one or more of the physiological effects of CR without dietary restriction -indicating that both CR and CRMs could be used to assist in treating these symptoms. Here, we summarize the current evidence for the potential use of CR and select CRMs in the treatment of anxiety, depression, and addiction, as well as the possible molecular mechanisms underlying these beneficial effects. Finally, we propose novel molecular signatures that could be exploited to screen for novel CRM candidates.

Keywords: Anxiety, Depression, substance use disorders, Addiction, calorie restriction, Calorie restriction mimetic

Received: 07 Mar 2025; Accepted: 27 May 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Nguyen, Govic, Levay, Zelko, Arumugam, Penman, Johns and Boskovic. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Terrance Grant Johns, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
Zoran Boskovic, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary Material