How Does Sugar Affect Your Mental Health?
No one can deny that food has an impact on our mood and emotions. When you are hungry and want to eat, you can be grumpy, upset or even angry. When you’ve had a delicious meal, you can feel exhilarated and euphoric.
Your health may also be seriously affected on the long-term by the food you eat. Specifically, eating too much sugar can increase your risk of mood disorders, including depression.
Sugar is found naturally in complex carbohydrates such as fruits, vegetables and grains. It is also present in simple and refined foods like pasta, cakes, baked goods, bread, soft drinks and sweets. The typical American diet relies heavily on these easily digestible carbohydrates, and contains far too few complex carbs extracted from healthier sources, that help fighting depression.
Eating too much simple sugars may cause significant damage and symptoms like increasing your risk of depression, mood disorders, anxiety, and many other chronic health conditions. Read on to find out more about the link between sugar and depression.
1. Refined carbohydrates linked to depression
Researchers in London discovered that a diet mainly based on whole foods such as fruits, vegetables and fish is associated with lower odds of depression and anxiety in middle age. In accordance with their study, people whose diet is based on processed foods like sweetened desserts, fried foods, refined grains and processed meats were more likely to be exposed to depression than people who heavily relied on unprocessed, whole foods.
You already know that you should eat lots of fruits, vegetables, and fish for optimal heart and brain function and to help prevent chronic diseases. Now, always remember to fill your plate with plants and keep the depression at bay.
2. Sugar can be more addictive than cocaine
A study on rodents revealed that the brain’s sugar receptors are not adapted to constant and high levels of sugar. This intense sweetness can stimulate the reward center of the brain and can be more pleasant and surpass cocaine reward, even in drug-sensitized and addicted people. In other words, the high from sugar is stronger than the high from cocaine. That is to say your self-control mechanisms could be overridden and thus lead to addiction.
You want to put an end to your sugar addiction? Sugar is everywhere, from drinks and sauces to soups and sandwiches. Try to find where sugar hides in your daily diet and create strategies to minimize it gradually. As you exclude sugar from your daily diet, your palate will adapt, and you will no longer be dependent to sugar to reach satisfaction.
Did you know? The high from sugar is stronger than the high from cocaine.
3. Men at greater risk for sugar’s effects
Men consuming high-sugar diets may be more susceptible to develop mental health issues than women. According to one study, researchers found that men with the highest intake - who ate 67 grams of sugar or more per day - were 23 percent more likely to suffer a common mental disorder over the course of five years compared to those who consumed less than 40 grams per day.
The American Heart Association highly recommended lowering the amount of added sugars you consume to no more than half of your daily calorie intake. For most American women, it should be no more than 25 grams (about 6 teaspoons) per day and no more than 36 grams (about 9 teaspoons) per day for men. Unfortunately, more than 82 percent of Americans surpass that daily recommendation.
Remember to read the ingredient list on a processed food’s label carefully to detect hidden sugar. Just because something is tasty, like a sauce, or healthy, like yogurt, doesn’t mean that there isn’t any added sugar, either.
4. Sugar promotes inflammation, which is linked to depression
A diet high in refined carbs can promote the risk of chronic inflammation, while a diet rich in fruits and vegetables can play an important role to help you protect your body’s tissues from inflammation, so it's important to opt for a varied whole food diet
Knowing that, chronic inflammation is related to several health conditions, like diabetes, high cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, cancer and asthma. Inflammation may also be related to depression, according to one study.
There are several symptoms that are common between depression and inflammation such as:
- Fatigue
- Heightened perception of pain
- Lack of concentration
- Loss of appetite
- Disinterested
- Sleep disorder
Tell your doctor about it as soon as possible if you suspect chronic inflammation. They can perform tests to see if you have any other health issues that caused inflammation.
5. Depression may be treated with insulin
Recent research has shown that there may be a strong relationship between depression and sugar intake treated using insulin. In one study, researchers noticed that people who suffer from major depression and insulin resistance are more likely to show better progress in their depression symptoms and glucose metabolism when they were under medication to treat diabetes for 12 weeks.
The result was remarkably strong in younger aged patients.
6. Eating baked goods is linked with depression
Brownies, cakes, cookies, pastries, puddings and other prepared baked goods may be delicious, but they may also cause depression. A Spanish study showed that persons who consumed the most baked goods had a 38 percent higher risk of depression than persons who consumed the least number of baked goods. The researchers proposed the intake of trans fats may play a role. This type of unhealthy fat may cause inflammation and increases your risk for cardiovascular disease and heart attack. It’s commonly found in commercial baked foods.
Trans fats were banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). American food manufacturers have until mid-2018 to get rid of all trans fats in their foods.
You can always check food labels to find out if it contains trans fats. Of course, never forget to always opt for organic and whole foods that do not contain artificial ingredients like trans fats.
7. It’s the quality of carb, not the quantity, that matters
It’s not a question of quantity, but of quality. So limiting sugar intake doesn’t mean you have to reduce carbs. A 2016 study looked at the quantity and quality of carbs consumed by nearly 70,000 women after menopause. Researchers found that high-sugar foods are often composed of simple carbs and full of simple sugars. The conclusion was that high glycemic index (GI) foods are linked to develop high risk of depression in postmenopausal women. Whereas, women who ate a higher amount of lower GI foods, like whole vegetables, fruit, fiber, had a lower risk for depression.
The results state that carbohydrates in general aren’t the mean cause for depression and other mental health issues. Instead, it’s the quality of the chosen carbs you eat that can impact your depression risk.
It’s not a question of quantity, but of quality
Takeaway
Sugars coming from simple carbohydrates are related to many health problems, including depression. Get in touch with your doctor or a registered dietitian and work with him to slowly cut down on your sugar intake. The key with sugar is not to remove completely from your plate. Rather, your goal should be to boost your ratio of natural sugars. However, consuming complex carbs, like those in fruits and vegetables may essentially lower your risk of developing mental health problems.
One should always go for whole foods that help fight depression.
Finally, hope that our article was a great help for you and if you experience any signs or symptoms of depression, don’t hesitate to tell your doctor.
Click below to read more about some non-drugs solutions to treat depression.
Read here.
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