“Our findings indicate that sugary drinks or snacks do not provide a quick ‘fuel refill’ to make us feel more alert,” said Sandra Sunram-Lea, who is the co-author of a recent study published in the journal Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.
Not only does Sunram-Lea and her team motion that sugar doesn’t offer any health benefits to our mood and alertness, in the data they uncovered suggests sugar might only serve to make us considerably more tired in addition to decreasing mental sharpness.
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The study doesn’t put it so mildly, in fact, it states very plainly: carbohydrates do not have a beneficial effect on any aspect of mood, they lower alertness within an hour of consumption and increase fatigue 30 minutes after consumption.
The sugar myth
The researchers from the University of Warwick, Humboldt University of Berlin and Lancaster University, examined literature from 31 previous studies on the subject and additionally employed the service of 1, 259 participants to determine more concretely the impact sugar has on anger, alertness, depression, and fatigue. The individuals examined were tasked with demanding physical and mental activity to see if their performance faired any better or worse after sugar consumption.
Dr. Konstantinos Mantantzis, the study’s other lead author, said of the purported rush of energy furthered significantly by “pop culture” that it’s nothing more than a myth. The team’s data could not substantiate anything resembling a boost to cognitive or emotional performance. “If anything, sugar will probably make you feel worse,” says Mantantzis.
A mere hour after imbibing sugar, the participants of the study were found to be more likely to feel tuckered out.
This data comes on the back of a sobering new study published in The Lancet about the surging mortality rates informed by our unhealthy diets. One of the dietary risk factors contributing to the 11 million early deaths statics mentioned in the Lancet study is sugary beverages, the consumption. of which fattens cancer deaths and cardiovascular-related deaths annually.
“The rise in obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome in recent years highlights the need for evidence-based dietary strategies to promote healthy lifestyle across the lifespan.” concludes Sunram-Lea
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