Try This – 3/1/2024

Hi Everyone!  

Let’s be real—most people eat sugar. 

Some of us eat a little more, and some of us eat a little less. 

This is not an article about demonizing sugar, but it is an article about pointing out just how much sugar we are eating on average and the serious challenges that come with our overconsumption of sugar. 

The average American consumes about 17 teaspoons of sugar a day; that’s 68 grams! According to the American Heart Association, men should consume no more than nine teaspoons of sugar a day and women should consume even less at no more than six teaspoons a day. ​The fact that many Americans are consuming almost double the amount recommended is alarming. 

Our rise in sugar consumption over the last 50–60 years has contributed to a host of health challenges including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancer, stroke, and even a decline in mental health…. 

Today we’re talking all about the connection between sugar and our mental health crisis. 

If you or anyone you know is struggling with depression or if you want to prevent any of the major chronic diseases that are wreaking havoc on our health, you’re going to want to pay attention to this article. 

Let’s get into it… ​

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​The Problem with Eating Too Much Sugar 

Before we start, I have to say that sugar is not the devil. It’s our relationship with sugar that can pose a problem. 

Enjoying sweet treats here and there with friends or making a cake for your loved ones on a special occasion brings joy and pleasure to our lives. But when people start eating sugar for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, that’s when we see a problem. 

And no, I don’t mean enjoying berries or fruit every day because for most people, fruit with fiber is part of a healthy diet. I mean the serious amounts of sugar that people eat in the forms of cookies, pastries, pancakes, candy, ice cream, and tons of food that fill our grocery stores. Even foods like condiments, breads, and crackers are filled with refined sugars. 

We know that this overconsumption of sugar has created a rise in some of our most deadly diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease. What’s really sad is that our children are suffering the consequences of a food supply riddled with sugar. 

Right now, one in six kids in this country struggles with obesity. Type 2 diabetes and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease are on the rise in our children. These are simply things that we did not have to worry about 50 years ago. 

According to recent studies, sugar also seems to have a huge impact on our mental health. Decline in our mental health, including among children, is on the rise. A study from 2019 found that 37 percent of high school students experienced feelings of depression and one in six students said that they had made a plan to commit suicide. 

There are so many factors to consider when it comes to depression, including social circles, pressure from school or within the home, an unstable home, and technology, but the sheer amount of processed, refined foods in our diet also needs to be considered. 

Increases in Sugar Consumption = Increased Risk of Depression 

A study published this month in BMC Psychiatry aimed to look at the connection between increased sugar intake and depression. In this cross-sectional study, 18,439 adults were assessed for depression via a depression questionnaire called PHQ-9. Researchers also collected dietary patterns twice over a three-to-ten-day period for each participant via interviews and used a 24-hour dietary recall system. 

*There are challenges with dietary recall, especially because some folks do not remember what they ate exactly and others tend to embellish or omit information. 

However, there was a significant relationship between sugar consumption and depression in adults. In fact, a 100-gram-per-day increase in sugar was associated with a 28 percent increase in the prevalence of depression. 

Why is this? 

Researchers explain that the connection between sugar consumption and our mental health is multifaceted. There is the potential impact of sugar on neurotransmitters that are associated with depression such as dopamine and norepinephrine. 

There’s also the connection to our metabolic health, which many of my podcast guests have discussed. An increase in dietary sugar can lead to metabolic disorders, which not only causes weight gain but also higher levels of C-reactive protein and other proinflammatory cytokines. Experts have been hypothesizing for years now that depression is an inflammatory issue more than anything else.

So could excess sugar be inflaming our brains? The answer is likely yes. 

In fact, other research has found that the presence of insulin resistance and prediabetes were highly indicative of major depression over a nine-year follow-up, which is another reason why these diagnoses should be taken seriously! Think of how many cases of depression we could prevent if we got a handle on poor metabolic health. 

Another thought is the role of sugar on the gut microbiome. We know now that the gut and the brain are dynamically interconnected. What impacts one impacts the other. When our gut suffers because of a highly inflammatory, high-sugar diet, this can significantly impact the state of our brain, feeding things like depression and anxiety. 

What can we take away from these studies? 

Again, it’s not sugar that’s the enemy. It’s the pervasiveness of sugar in our diets—breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and drinks! 

When we prioritize making our own food, using real, whole ingredients, we have some control over the amount and types of sugars we use in our meals. And we can feel good about doing our best most of the time and saving treats for special moments and occasions. 

If you want to learn more about the types of sugar and sugar alternatives I use, check out this article.

I know Try This readers are dialed in about the effects of sugar, but if you know anyone who is looking to cut back on their chronic sugar consumption, please send them this article. ​

Here’s to your health, Dhru Purohit