Consuming higher amounts of fats, carbohydrates, and sugar improves mood
the verdict
CONTESTED
contested - evenly split
refutedsupported
the weight of evidence
1 source for · 6 against
Comprehensive scientific reviews and meta-analyses, including evaluations of acute carbohydrate ingestion and mood, demonstrate that higher intakes of carbohydrates and refined sugars do not improve mood and are often associated with mood dysregulation, fatigue, and greater risks of depression and anxiety.
Alterations in dietary carbohydrate, protein, and fat intake and mood state in trained female cyclists. Seven highly trained female cyclists (age 22 +/- 5 yr, height 165 +/- 6 cm, weight 60 +/- 5 kg, VO2max 55 +/- 6 ml.min-1.kg-1, mean +/- SD) consumed, for 1 wk each, isocaloric diets containing varying levels of carbohydrate, protein, and fat designated as low carbohydrate (LCHO), moderate carbohydrate (MCHO), and high carbohydrate (HCHO). Diets were administered in random order, and each subject consumed all three diet treatments. At the end of each weekly diet treatment, subjects rode on a cycle ergometer at 80% VO2max until fatigued. Cyclists continued light training during the diet treatments. Following each diet treatment and immediately prior to the fatiguing cycle ergometer ride, cyclists completed a Profile of Mood States (POMS) questionnaire. The POMS yields measures of tension (T), depression (D), anger (A), vigor (V), fatigue (F), and confusion (C), as well as providing a total mood score (TMS). Results indicated that subjects on LCHO had significantly (P less than or equal to 0.05) greater T, D, A, and TMS and less V compared with MCHO and HCHO.
Abstract
Objective
To evaluate the quality of evidence, potential biases, and validity of all available studies on dietary sugar consumption and health outcomes.
Design
Umbrella review of existing meta-analyses.
Data sources
PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and hand searching of reference lists.
Inclusion criteria
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials, cohort studies, case-control studies, or cross sectional studies that evaluated the effect of dietary sugar consumption on any health outcomes in humans free from acute or chronic diseases.
Results
The search identified 73 meta-analyses and 83 health outcomes from 8601 unique articles, including 74 unique outcomes in meta-analyses of observational studies and nine unique outcomes in meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials. Significant harmful associations between dietary sugar consumption and 18 endocrine/metabolic outcomes, 10 cardiovascular outcomes, seven cancer outcomes, and 10 other outcomes (neuropsychiatric, dental, hepatic, osteal, and allergic) were detected. Moderate quality evidence suggested that the highest versus lowest dietary sugar consumption was associated with increased body weight (sugar sweetened beverages) (class IV evidence) and ectopic fatty accumulation (added sugars) (class IV evidence). Low quality evidence indicated that each serving/week increment of sugar sweetened beverage consumption was associated with a 4% higher risk of gout (class III evidence) and each 250 mL/day increment of sugar sweetened beverage consumption was associated with a 17% and 4% higher risk of coronary heart disease (class II evidence) and all cause mortality (class III evidence), respectively. In addition, low quality evidence suggested that every 25 g/day increment of fructose consumption was associated with a 22% higher risk of pancreatic cancer (class III evidence).
Conclusions
High dietary sugar consumption is generally more harmful than beneficial for health, especially in cardiometabolic disease. Reducing the consumption of free sugars or added sugars to below 25 g/day (approximately 6 teaspoons/day) and limiting the consumption of sugar sweetened beverages to less than one serving/week (approximately 200-355 mL/week) are recommended to reduce the adverse effect of sugars on health.
Systematic review registration
PROSPERO CRD42022300982.
The effect of carbohydrate (CHO) consumption on mood is much debated, with researchers reporting both mood improvements and decrements following CHO ingestion. As global consumption of sugar-sweetened products has sharply increased in recent years, examining the validity of claims of an association between CHOs and mood is of high importance. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the relationship between acute CHO ingestion and mood. We examined the time-course of CHO-mood interactions and considered the role of moderator variables potentially affecting the CHO-mood relationship. Analysis of 176 effect sizes (31 studies, 1259 participants) revealed no positive effect of CHOs on any aspect of mood at any time-point following their consumption. However, CHO administration was associated with higher levels of fatigue and less alertness compared with placebo within the first hour post-ingestion. These findings challenge the idea that CHOs can improve mood, and might be used to increase the public's awareness that the 'sugar rush' is a myth, inform health policies to decrease sugar consumption, and promote healthier alternatives.
Dietary carbohydrates play an important role in mood regulation, mental health, and cognitive performance, which is driving rapid development in studies on the diet-brain interaction. The review will focus on the intricate relationship between brain function and carbohydrate intake, emphasizing how different types of carbohydrates impact mental health and cognitive outcomes. Simple carbohydrate intake (often known as "sugars") is consistently linked to a decline in overall cognition, while complex carbohydrate intake is linked to both short- and long-term memory improvement and successful brain aging. Dietary macronutrients affect the brain and cognition through a variety of pathways, including glucose and insulin metabolism, neurotransmitter effects, and cerebral oxidation and inflammation. Carbohydrate supplements appear to enhance cognitive function in people who engage in prolonged, high-intensity physical activity with high energy requirements.
Refined carbohydrate exposure-principally added sugars and rapidly digestible starches-is a modifiable driver of the overfat pandemic and carries downstream risks for brain health. This narrative review synthesizes epidemiological, clinical, and mechanistic evidence linking refined carbohydrates to excess adiposity and metabolic dysfunction, and in turn to cognitive, affective, and addiction-related outcomes. Converging data show that high-glycemic, ultra-processed foods promote positive energy balance via glycemic volatility, impaired satiety signaling, and reinforcement of dopaminergic reward pathways; chronic exposure contributes to insulin resistance, ectopic fat, systemic inflammation, and cerebrovascular burden. These states are associated with reduced executive function, attentional control, mood dysregulation, and heightened compulsive intake. Experimental studies demonstrate short-term effects on craving, reward responsivity, and glycemic variability, while longitudinal cohorts relate higher refined carbohydrate intake and markers of adiposity to poorer cognitive trajectories and greater depression risk. Although other dietary components may influence brain health, this review focuses on refined carbohydrates as a primary, tractable lever. Public health options include front-of-pack warnings for added sugars, targeted taxation and marketing restrictions (especially to children), procurement standards, reformulation targets, school and healthcare environment changes, and screening for overfat as a clinical vital sign. Priorities for research include causal trials that manipulate refined carbohydrate exposure with brain outcomes, and evaluation of policy packages at population scale. Reducing refined carbohydrate exposure offers a plausible, scalable strategy to curb overfat and protect brain health.
<h4>Background</h4>Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) account for approximately 38% of the adult diet, corresponding with a global increase in the prevalence of mental illnesses. Understanding the relationship between UPF consumption and mental health is crucial for public health and clinical practice.<h4>Objectives</h4>To uncover the association between consumption of ultra-processed food (UPF), dysregulated lipid metabolism, and increased risk of mental illnesses, including depression, anxiety, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), eating disorders (ED), and food addiction (FA). In addition, this review explores the potential biological and behavioral mechanisms that may underlie these associations for each disorder.<h4>Methods</h4>Following the PRISMA extension for scoping reviews guideline, a comprehensive search was conducted across PubMed, Web of Science, and EMBASE databases. The retrieved records, screened using Covidence, included English-language studies published between 2020 and 2025 that involved participants without significant comorbidities. Relevant data on associations and proposed mechanisms were extracted and synthesized using a narrative approach.<h4>Results</h4>UPF consumption was associated with dysregulated lipid metabolism and increased risk of Anxiety, Depression, ADHD, Autism, ED, and FA. Dose-dependent increases in risk were identified in all mental illnesses except for autism. Proposed mechanisms for all these increased risks included systemic low-grade inflammation, alterations in neuronal signaling, particularly dopamine and serotonin signaling pathways, and the influence of UPF additives on neurochemical regulation.<h4>Conclusion</h4>There is a strong association between UPF consumption, disrupted lipid metabolism and increased risk of mental disorder in populations without significant comorbidities. Diets rich in minimally processed foods appear protective. The findings support the potential of public health initiatives aimed at reducing UPF consumption to mitigate the mental health burden. Future studies should focus on mechanistic pathways, UPF and minimally processed food consumption patterns to provide evidence for targeted dietary and policy interventions that improve health outcomes.
<b>Background</b>: Risk of malnutrition among patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) can reach up to 60%, with prevalence rates as high as 24%. Dietary management for PD patients is a promising adjuvant therapy that may improve some motor and non-motor symptoms. However, there is limited information regarding nutrient intake and adherence to recommended dietary requirements in this population in Lithuania. <b>Methods</b>: In this case-control study conducted at Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Klinikos (2023-2025), usual dietary intake was assessed using two non-consecutive 24 h recalls. Intake was compared with Lithuanian Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) values. Associations between nutrient intake and selected non-motor symptoms were analyzed. <b>Results</b>: Fifty-nine patients with PD and 54 controls were included and compared with RDI; patients with PD had lower intakes of dietary fiber (20.63 g/day), vitamin A (627.15 μgRE/day), and vitamin D (3.18 μg/day), alongside a higher energy contribution from total sugars (11.31 E%). Less than half met RDI for protein, fat, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) energy contribution, vitamins E and C, calcium, and zinc. Compared with controls, PD patients consumed more dietary fiber, plant protein, and total carbohydrate and had a higher carbohydrate-derived energy contribution. PD patients with depressive mood consumed fewer carbohydrate, dietary fiber, plant protein, and some vitamins and minerals compared to those without. <b>Conclusions</b>: Patients with PD had higher total sugar-derived energy consumption and lower dietary fiber and vitamin D intake than the RDI. There were differences in dietary intake among PD patients with and without specific non-motor functions.
Everything we examined (7)
This check searched the claim as stated. It did not run a separate search for evidence against it.