#SugarBalancedLiving

It’s been long known that diet has a strong connection with our emotions - what we eat can affect what we feel (stressed, lazy, etc.) and vice versa - what we feel can impact what food choices we make, like eating a sweet sugary treat instead of salad when we’re down. Well, here’s how choosing sugar and junk foods could be making your stress and anxiety during COVID-19 (coronavirus) worse and what to do about it!

Are You Making COVID-19 Stress And Anxiety Worse By Eating Sugar

The entire world is stressed and anxious right now…really badly stressed, by the coronavirus pandemic which has spread to almost every country in the world, a silent enemy that few knew existed until a few months ago. The virus has devastated entire countries, broken healthcare systems and crushed entire economies.

The USA in particular is in the midst of a health disaster. For example, according to the Global Health Security Index, which is a report grading every country on its preparation and ability to deal with a pandemic, the United States Of America scored a measurement 83.5 — the world’s highest rating. Despite this readiness and ability to cope with a pandemic, the richest and most powerful country in the world has been brought to its knees, with over 22,000 fatalities from the disease at the time of writing.

Add to that the staggering fact that more people across the world are under lockdown (over 3 billion) than were alive during World War Two, self- isolation, quarantine, confined to their homes and neighborhood - little wonder that we are all so stressed.

There has never been a better time to reflect upon and take action steps to save, regain and improve our health and vitality. However, with the unfamiliar long periods of time feeling incarcerated at home, this increases the tendency to become inactive and bored, which in turn increases stress levels.

The major problem for most people is that when they feel stressed and anxious they tend to overeat, eat junk food and/or eat sugary foods, because of the quick burst of energy and release of the ‘good mood’ hormone, serotonin. You temporarily feel better and comforted from that sugary treat, only for the feeling to dissipate quickly – and, in fact, your anxiety levels spike

Why does sugar make anxiety worse?

Here is the science…

“Eating lots of sugar is going to give you sudden peaks and troughs in the amount of glucose in your blood; symptoms that this is going on include fatigue, irritability, dizziness, insomnia, excessive sweating (especially at night), poor concentration and forgetfulness, excessive thirst, depression and crying spells, digestive disturbances and blurred vision. Since the brain depends on an even supply of glucose it is no surprise to find that sugar has been implicated in aggressive behavior, anxiety, and depression, and fatigue “ (per https://www.foodforthebrain.org/)

Basically, when you eat unrefined sugar (including artificial sweeteners), your body finds it easy to process these simple carbs, and digests them rapidly. Because the sugar molecules are basic, the body breaks them down quickly for fuel, but the downside is that the fuel they provide is burned up quickly.

This fast process causes the crash – therein the problem lies.

The rapid descent in blood sugar and swing in energy levels frequently brings on anxiety symptoms – you may experience rapid heartbeat, shakiness, even sweating. Your body becomes stresses, because the rapid descent from the sugar spike is hard work for your brain, and to cope the brain releases the “stress hormones” cortisol and adrenaline, which in turn makes the anxiety worse.

In addition, at times like this your poor brain struggles to produce the required amount of a protein called brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF). The BDNF protein is needed because it has an essential role important role in reducing anxiety, panic, and stress reactions, so the lack of it makes those symptoms worse.

So that’s the science…the more sugar you eat the less able you are able to cope with pandemic stress and anxiety.

What can you do to take actionable steps to reduce both?

Here’s What To Do To Reduce Your Sugar Intake And Anxiety

You are what you eat – as you know from this website, reducing the amount of sugar that you eat be a difficult process, and the precise steps are lengthy and beyond the scope of this post, but you can find out more about curbing your sugar addiction here.

You need to make a two-step plan.

1. Reduce and Avoid Sugary Anxiety-Inducing Foods

Plan to avoid replace one or two of the foods from this list at a time…

Soda, including diet soda
Sweetened coffee drinks
Alcoholic drinks
White unrefined flour in bread
Fruit juices (may are loaded with sugar)
Bread made with refined flours
Pasta and tortillas made from white flour
Candy and sugary foods
Instant foods and refined cereals

Try to test out the foods that cause you most anxiety – people different, and some foods may affect some individuals more than others.

2. Deal With Your Stress Triggers

If you find your mood plummeting after seeing the latest coronavirus news on the television, limit your intake of news to once per day, or try to find positive stories to read from time to time, to try and alleviate your distress.

At a time like this, you may find that you turn to food to make you feel better quickly, but remember all the consequences of self-medicating in this way. Instead focus your energies in activity seeking a way to express your feelings. Maybe you have an upbeat family member, or a friend, but this might prove to be awkward, especially if they are suffering their own stress from the pandemic. You might even be unable to go and see and see them because of lockdowns in your area, or because they are in a health-compromised category at risk from COVID-19.

If your anxiety is overwhelming, then you may be better served seeing professional help, and it is possible to do this from the comfort and privacy of your own home. There are simple ways to seek and find online counselling and therapy, that will save you the time, money and expense of travelling to a therapist’s office during a lockdown. The sessions generally are cheaper than a fact-to face meeting, and can be conducted by teleconferencing conferring by Skype or Zoom.

In that way you can deal with the psychological fears and trigger stressors that may be casing you to eat unhealthy sugars, and combined with making the diet changes that are suggested here, you will hopefully regain control of your pandemic anxiety and stress.

Your Turn!

How has sugar made your stress and anxiety worse? If you have found ways to combat these unhealthy eating patterns, please share them in the comments. Thanks for reading!