Cheesecake, cookies, pies and brownies galore — the holidays are here and there will likely be no shortage of sweet treats at your seasonal get-togethers this year. While the thought of chowing down on some gingerbread cookies or a decadent cheesecake might make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, the post-binge is sure to bring on a whole host of different feelings. Studies show that the added sugars found in sweet holiday treats can lead to metabolic, inflammatory and neurobiological processes that bring about negative feelings and even depression.
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Stephen Ilardi and a team of researchers at the University of Kansas found that up to 30% of the population suffers from at least some symptoms of winter-onset depression, also known as SAD. And a common characteristic of winter depression is to crave sugar. It may seem convenient that sugar is everywhere you look during the holiday season, but Ilardi explains, “When we consume sweets, they act like a drug. They have an immediate mood-elevating effect, but in high doses they can also have a paradoxical, pernicious longer-term consequence of making mood worse, reducing well-being, elevating inflammation and causing weight gain.”
Ilardi and his team found that inflammation caused by excess sugar is the number one contributor to depressive thoughts. He explained, “When we think about inflammatory disease we think about things like diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis – diseases with a high level of systemic inflammation. We don’t normally think about depression being in that category, but it turns out that it really is – not for everyone who’s depressed, but for about half. We also know that inflammatory hormones can directly push the brain into a state of severe depression. So, an inflamed brain is typically a depressed brain. And added sugars have a pro-inflammatory effect on the body and brain.”
If you’re chasing that feel-good sugar rush this Christmas, stop and think about the dangerous effects added sugar can have on your body and brain. It’s unlikely that enjoying a sugar cookie will lead to depression, but binging on sweets and experiencing a sugar crash just might.