While we all love to dive into a delicious bowl of ice cream, a healthy, responsible adult usually knows when to stop. High sugar intake has been linked to many health conditions like obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. However, recent studies link high sugar consumption with a somewhat surprising group of conditions – mental disorders.
In this article, we will be exploring the connection between mental disorders and sugar.
Research on Mental Disorders and Sugar
This link was explored in a 2017 study published in the Scientific Reports journal. To find whether increased sugar intake can affect our mental health, the scientists used the data from the famous Whitehall II study. In this study, over 10 thousand participants were required to fill out food questionnaires during 22 years.
The scientists then analyzed this data to assess the participants’ daily sugar intake. They discovered that men whose diet included more than 67 grams of sugar per day had 23% more chance to develop a mental condition in the next five years. The same couldn’t be said for women, as this link wasn’t found among the female participants.
Reverse Causation Not an Option
As a potential critique of these results, some people point out that this connection could work the other way around – perhaps mental disorders are causing people to find comfort in sugars? But, the study found that people who already had mental disorders didn’t eat more sugars than the healthy group.
Final Word
The link between mental disorders and sugar gives us one more reason to try and control our sugar cravings. Limit your sugar intake and save added sugars only for special occasions, especially if you’re a man concerned about your mental health.
