You read that right: I’m making a case to eat sugar.

This might be one of the most wild research dives you’ll read from me, so pop in and enjoy the ride.

But First, The Basics

To start, let’s talk about the basics. Our brains and bodies need sugar to survive. Glucose is the energy our body uses to perform many of its functions. It’s far better for our health in the long term to be getting our glucose through our diet vs. forcing our bodies to create it.

There are two main ways of getting glucose through our food:

1. High glycemic-index foods (white bread, watermelon, white rice, potatoes): releases the sugar faster into our bloodstream; helpful for anxiety attacks or brain fog

2. Low glycemic-index foods (whole-grain bread, apples, brown rice, sweet potatoes): releases the sugar slower into our bloodstream; helpful for overall health

For optimal long-term health, ideally we are eating plenty of low glycemic-index foods such as fruits, vegetables, and beans. This is because they not only tend to be more nutrient dense, but they also help with overall insulin regulation. Even more optimally, we are regularly pairing our carbohydrate-rich foods with protein.

The Case Against Sugar for Depression

If you’re reading this, thinking I’m wild for suggesting that sugar is a good thing for depression, I totally get it. Let’s go over the few reasons why people think that sugar could make depression worse.

1. The MANY studies that have shown a link between sugar consumption and depression (such as this one that found consuming more than 141.76 g of sugar a day was associated with an increased risk for depression)

2. The constant messaging that sugar causes inflammation (and that inflammation is bad for mental health)

3. Sugar’s negative impact on the gut microbiome

4. Sugar’s negative effects on our blood sugar regulation

And…yeah! Those are all true. However, they don’t capture the whole story. To start off, sugar only causes chronic inflammation when consumed in excess. Second, sugar only negatively impacts the gut microbiome when consumed in excess. Third, sugar only negatively impacts how our body uses glucose . . . I think you’re seeing my point.

What is constantly missing from this conversation is that the issue isn’t sugar, it’s excess sugar. (There’s something else missing from the conversation too that I’ll get to in a bit).

You know I’m about to pull up the dietary guidelines. The World Health Organization recommends that a person’s day consists of no more than 5% of your calories coming from added sugar. AKA: If you’re consuming 2,000 calories, only 100 calories should be added sugars, which is about 25 grams or 6 teaspoons. We don’t tend to see long-term adverse effects of added sugar consumption until about 10% (so 50 grams of sugar).

The Case FOR Sugar for Depression

All right, now this is where things get a little bit interesting.

1. One study found that sugar dampens the HPA axis. Essentially, it means that when we consume sugar, biologically it reduces our stress response and improves cortisol regulation. Interestingly, they found that it wasn’t dose dependent - instead, it was frequency-dependent. They also found that non-sugar additives like saccarin produced similar responses. This means that sugar/sweet-tasting foods actually reduce our stress, and it helps more when we consume it throughout our day rather than all at one time.

2. This study found that the sugar-depression connection disappears when controlling for stress. This means that stress increases both sugar consumption and depression, but sugar itself likely doesn’t. Interestingly, they did find that sugar-sweetened beverages were still associated with depression, which we’ll get to in a bit.

3. This study found that a higher genetically predicted sugar intake had a causal protective effect on the risk of MDD. AKA: people who were genetically more likely to eat more sugar had a LOWER risk of developing depression. That suggests that consuming sugar when you start to feel a downswing may actually prevent you from having as extreme of an episode.

4. You know how there are lots of studies showing an association between sugar intake and depression risk? Well, they aren’t causal. That means either sugar increases depression risk or depressive symptoms increase sugar consumption (or both at the same time).

Are you following me yet?

Essentially, when we put everything together, here’s what we actually get:

It’s most likely that sugar PROTECTS us against depression rather than it exacerbating it.

It’s most likely that high-dose sugar at one time harms our body (AKA your Starbucks Frappe)

It’s optimal to follow the dietary guidelines regarding sugar intake to ensure that the negatives of sugar don’t happen, such as low-grade inflammation, oxidative stress, bacterial overgrowth in the gut, and many different types of hormone dysregulations - all of which can definitely contribute to depression.

Based on the evidence, here’s what I personally do regarding sugar and depression.

• I follow the dietary guidelines regarding added sugars. That being said, there of course will be days when I eat more sugar than ideally, but in general I don’t overconsume added sugars.

• I follow the dietary guidelines regarding sugar-sweetened beverages. Yes, the guidelines do actually recommend against consuming your soda and coffee order. I’ve all but sworn off frappe’s, alcoholic drinks, and non-diet soda. Yeah, I’ll still have one every so often, but definitely not every week (let alone every day).

• I follow the dietary guidelines regarding fruit. Eating fruit is actually one of the best things you can do not only for your brain, but also for your blood sugar regulation. Many different fruits have been shown to improve insulin sensitivity, including kiwis and oranges. They also contain plenty of antioxidants (which we as ADHDers biologically require more of), polyphenols (which improve cognitive function), and fiber (which helps your gut). Oranges specifically have been found to reduce risk of depression, which honestly I could make an entire post about. Maybe I will.

So, does sugar help your depression or hurt it? At the end of the day, it’s more than likely a complex interplay, and overconsumption of anything is harmful to our bodies.

However, just know that there’s a reason you crave sweets when you start to feel depression coming, and it may be wise to listen to your body.

Oh, and maybe consider eating an orange every day.

P.S. if you want to know what herbs and supplements are going to actually help your ADHD symptoms, don’t forget to join the Nutrimind Community to get access to the TOP Evidence-backed ADHD Supplements! It’s available in the higher tier at this time ($13/month).

Thanks for reading!

If you have any thoughts, questions, or comments, be sure to shoot me a DM on Instagram @Nutrimindcoach or simply reply to this email. I LOVE hearing from you!