Sugar May Cause Depression: Study

Sugar may cause depression. It is time to give up those deserts. Don't believe? A new study shows that eating high levels of sugar can lead to mental illnesses like depression.

The study followed over 8,000 adults over 22 years and was carried out by the University College London. It found that people who consume food that contain 67 grams of sugar per day were more than 23 percent more likely to be diagnosed fro clinical depression. 67 grams is twice the amount of sugar intake recommended by the American Heart Association.

The study began in 1985, and has been recently published. The participants did not have mental illness to start with and were asked to fill out health and stress data every few years. The men who ate more sugar had higher rates of mental illness, compared to those who did not eat sugar. Even when compared to those who were overweight, people who ate more sugar still had mental illness.

When they kicked the sugar habit, the mental illness persisted. This suggests that sugar could have caused the mental illness. The study's lead author says that there is no evidence for causation because of inevitable flaws in the study.

Other negative repercussions of eating sugar

Sugar addiction is real. Sugar can be addicted because it is self administered and rewarding. It simulates the reward centre in our brains and increases our cravings for it. The more we eat it, the more tolerant our reward pathways become, and the more we need to sustain the sugar high, very unlike the behaviour of someone addicted to drugs

It causes heart disease and diabetes. It can also lead to obesity.

Excess sugar causes skin to wrinkle and damages collagen.

It causes premature ageing. A high amount of sugar consumed, means it hits the blood stream and attaches itself to the proteins. These new molecular structures contribute to the loss of elasticity found in ageing body tissues, which cause skin sagging to various  organs and the arteries. The more sugar circulating in your blood, the more the damage it causes.

Also Read: Why Cutting Down On Sugar Is A Secret To Healthy Life