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Sugar & Anxiety
Aug 18, 2020
Anxiety has a sweet tooth!
When we talk about sugar, we often think of its awful impact on our physical health but rarely about the harm it can cause to our psychological health. Let’s dive into the subject to try and understand the effects of sugar on mental wellbeing.
While it’s true that sugar can provide you with a burst of energy (think of a “sugar rush”), studies show that consuming it probably won’t improve your state of mind. On the contrary, research has found that a diet with a higher sugar intake can raise the risk for mood disorders in men and women alike, and that adults who consumed regularly saturated fats and added sugars (which is sugar added to processed foods) showcased higher anxiety. Note, however, that studies have not yet drawn a concrete cause-and-effect connection between mood irregularity and sugar intake.
The link between sweets consumption and stress, on the other hand, have already been proven. Sugar can suppress your hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis, a unit in your brain that regulates your body’s response to stress, and can possibly stop the production of Cortisol (the stress hormone) which would reduce anxiety. This feeling is, however, short-lived and could lead to a sugar dependence — creating a risk for physical health issues such as obesity.
Indeed, sugar has been often compared to drugs as it can lead to symptoms that resemble those of addiction. People who abruptly go from high-sugar to sugar-free diets have been found to experience psychological withdrawal. This can include panic attacks and feelings of irritability, anxiety, exhaustion or confusion.
It’s always a good idea to reduce your added sugar and processed sweets consumption by finding less harmful sources of sugar. Ripe fruits, for example, are very sweet in taste. You can try making smoothies that contain fruits and high protein yoghurt or coconut milk. Adding sides of sweet potatoes to your dishes or using tiny doses of honey in your beverages can also provide extra sweetness.
While extensive research on the topic has not been completed yet, many studies on mental health and psychological issues have identified high sugar consumption as a likely source of risk for a lot of mental conditions. Until researchers can give us concrete answers and scientific facts, will you reconsider your sugar consumption or not? It’s all up to you and your opinion!
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