Want to be happy? Step away from the junk food

(Relaxnews) - If you've been feeling blue, anxious and stressed lately, consider dropping the donut and pizza slice and cutting out fatty foods from your diet altogether.

Because a new study out of Montreal has found that in addition to causing health-related problems like obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, the consumption of rich, fatty foods has been shown to cause the same kind of chemical reaction as illicit drugs: while that deep-fried chicken drumstick may provide instant gratification and a food high, the tail-end of the experience is a crashing low of depression and anxiety, scientists said.

For their study, published in the International Journal of Obesity and announced last week, researchers found that mice fed a high-fat diet exhibited signs of anxiety and depression such as avoiding open areas and making less of an effort to escape when trapped.