4 ms·

Maybe there is a relationship between sugar consumption and our ability to cope with stress? I found, that when I stopped eating sugar, it wasn't exactly a big

by mads 10y ago

Maybe there is a relationship between sugar consumption and our ability to cope with stress? I found, that when I stopped eating sugar, it wasn't exactly a big revelation, but merely a subtle change (mentally), that made me somehow less anxious and when I had irrational anxiety "attacks", I was able to suppress them better. I don't have any better way to explain this psychological stuff, but for me there was a change for sure. A subtle one, but it made a big impact on my life long term. The reason I stopped eating sugar was that I saw a pattern in my moods depending on what I ate. I initially thought that it my eating habits were dictated by life circumstances and that life circumstance were dictating my mood, but two things stood out, which left me to try going without sugar. First I wanted to loose weight, so I went on a protein only diet during a very stressful time and it made me feel pretty good. Second, I was feeling even better, when I was fasting. Third, I had my worst "breakdown", when I was training for a marathon (I ran many, so it wasn't marathon stress) and ingested a lot of sugar.

drvdevd 10y ago
I'm very much of the opinion that sugar should be considered a psychotropic substance in line with Caffeine and other addictive drugs. When I crash from sugar, it feels very much like any other addictive substance - I feel my mind craving another hit. [edit] I love caffeine btw, so I'm not saying this is inherently bad -- just something we often forget.
mercer 10y ago
Interesting thought. Another option is that it's more of a link between substance dependence and anxiety. In the same way that alcohol, weed and other drugs create a feedback loop of 'feel bad' -> 'easy, instant solution' (to which absence of the solution can become the 'feel bad' itself, creating a loop), I suppose it could be the same for food/sugar.
adrice727 10y ago
This isn't surprising given everything we're starting to discover about the connection between gut bacteria and mental health[1], and that sugar has been shown to promote the growth of unhealthy gut bacteria[2]. [1]http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/06/gut-bacteria-on-the-brain/395918/ http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/06/gut-bacter... [2]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3448089/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3448089/
Afton 10y ago
In the interests of anecdata, I went ketogenic for about 18 months. One of my reasons for doing this that my sister described in glowing terms how eating this way had all sort of positive mental health efforts (more muted emotional responses, mental clarity, lack of anxiety). I had no effect of that sort. I can only assume that this is one of those 'some people respond well to this, others not so much'.
- mads 10y ago
  "Muted emotional responses" .. this describes very well how I experience it actually.

by mads 10y ago

drvdevd 10y ago

I'm very much of the opinion that sugar should be considered a psychotropic substance in line with Caffeine and other addictive drugs. When I crash from sugar, it feels very much like any other addictive substance - I feel my mind craving another hit. [edit] I love caffeine btw, so I'm not saying this is inherently bad -- just something we often forget.

mercer 10y ago

Interesting thought. Another option is that it's more of a link between substance dependence and anxiety. In the same way that alcohol, weed and other drugs create a feedback loop of 'feel bad' -> 'easy, instant solution' (to which absence of the solution can become the 'feel bad' itself, creating a loop), I suppose it could be the same for food/sugar.

adrice727 10y ago

This isn't surprising given everything we're starting to discover about the connection between gut bacteria and mental health[1], and that sugar has been shown to promote the growth of unhealthy gut bacteria[2]. [1]http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/06/gut-bacteria-on-the-brain/395918/ http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/06/gut-bacter... [2]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3448089/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3448089/

Afton 10y ago

In the interests of anecdata, I went ketogenic for about 18 months. One of my reasons for doing this that my sister described in glowing terms how eating this way had all sort of positive mental health efforts (more muted emotional responses, mental clarity, lack of anxiety). I had no effect of that sort. I can only assume that this is one of those 'some people respond well to this, others not so much'.

mads 10y ago
"Muted emotional responses" .. this describes very well how I experience it actually.