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Food & Drink

The one food that can destroy your mood and screw up your life

By
Lola Berry, WHIMN
Published July 10, 2017
Updated July 10, 2017, 1:19 p.m. ET
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Fact: There are certain foods that mess with your mood. The biggie: sugar! The tricky thing about sugar is that it’s hidden in things that you think are healthy, so you need to get really savvy when it comes to buying condiments and treats. Even things like cereals and juices can have loads of hidden sugars in them.

The effects

So how does sugar mess with your mood?

  1. When you eat sugar, your body has to counteract it by releasing insulin, which leads to a rapid decrease of blood glucose. This causes the body to release adrenaline to compensate, which puts the body into a “fight or flight” state (which can result in anxiety).
  2. Sugar also causes inflammation, which means you release inflammatory messengers. These guys are called “cytokines” — and there is a link between cytokines and depression. Side note on inflammation: This is also linked to premature aging and can affect skin elasticity. So if you want glowing skin (which also makes us feel happy), limit your sugar intake.

Kick the habit

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The tricky thing with sugar is that it’s highly addictive (some experts have likened the addictive nature of sugar to cocaine) — you get an initial “sugar high” closely followed by a comedown. So if you do attempt a sugar detox, you’re going to feel a whole lot worse before you feel better.

It can take around 48 hours to get through the initial cravings. This is the nature of anything addictive: You will potentially feel withdrawal symptoms of a headache or mood swings and you may feel drawn to “binge,” but knowing this makes it much easier to combat the cravings. Know that when you get through them, they will lessen to the point that you won’t even think about them again. The truth is, that does take some time. I personally feel better about myself within 48 hours, but the craving doesn’t really go until I’ve had no sugar in my diet for three weeks.

And lastly …

The week before your period, you’ll want to turn into a sugar monster. Know that it’s just your hormones and try to ride out the storm. I like to increase the magnesium and glutamine to help combat the intense cravings. Go on, give the sugar kick a go, because who doesn’t want to be in a better mood?