Sugar and Our Mood

Picture this: You are out with friends at a restaurant.  The meal was amazing.  The company was even better, and the waitress comes by and asks a seemingly simple question: Would anyone like dessert?  Well, yah, of course, right?  I mean, you saw that picture of the cake with the ice cream on top while looking over the menu, and it really did look great.

Now, picture this: You are struggling.  Your anxiety has been worse lately, and you just can’t understand why.  What is going on?  It’s worse some days and better others.  Maybe, it’s just stress from life.  Maybe it’s that your mother had bad anxiety, and you were just unlucky enough get it from her?

You also feel a bit depressed.  Maybe it’s just all that’s going on.  Maybe it’s just like it was that other time, and you are thinking about seeing your doctor and going on a depression medication again.  Just for a little while.

While these types of feelings are normal parts of life, the truth is that diet and lifestyle do influence how we feel day to day.  In this case, the culprit is sugar.  Now, I am not suggesting that we never eat sugar.  I indulge in it from time to time, but when we consume sugar or a lot of carbohydrates regularly, we are flooding out body with glucose that it simply doesn’t need.  This can affect not only our physical health but also our emotional balance and mood.

Even though sugar and carbs give us a lovely feeling while we are eating them and immediately after, while our body is processing this out, we can see an increase in anxiety with all the extra energy floating around with nothing to do.  Once it is processed out, we can feel depleted and depressed.

Studies have shown that a diet low in excess sugar can help us reduce our anxiety and depression.  Many of my clients have tried a ketogenic diet with amazing results.  As with any dietary changes, you should consult with a health professional, but if all you have to lose is anxiety and depression, would you consider this worth it?

 

source https://www.lifesworkclinic.com/sugar-and-our-mood/