Women Have It Better Than Men When It Comes To Sugar

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Many of us (whether we’re willing to admit it or not) have a little bit of a sugar problem. We indulge a little too frequently, often times not even realizing how many grams of the sweet stuff we’re raking into our diets. And while this certainly isn’t doing us any favors, it’s especially hurting the boys in the bunch.

New research from University College London suggests that men who consume a lot of added sugar in their diets also have an increased risk of being depressed. Women, on the other hand, experience no such association between their sugar-eating habits and their mental health.

For the study, researchers at the university analyzed the dietary sugar consumption and mental health problems of 5,000 men and 2,000 women recruited back in the 1980s for the Whitehall II study (also known as the Stress and Health Study). They found a strong association between higher sugar consumption levels and depression in men, and they were able to confirm that the men weren’t eating more sugar because they were depressed.

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The researchers also found that men who ate the most sugar – more than 67 grams a day – had a 23 percent higher chance of dealing with a mental disorder like depression after five years than men who consumed the least, which was less than 39.5 grams in this data pool. (Just for reference, the American Heart Association recommends men consume no more than 37.5 grams of sugar daily and that women limit themselves to 25 grams.)

“This study is important because it is the first to be able to show that an increase in risk of about a quarter in common mental disorders — mostly mild anxiety and depression — in men who eat the most sugar cannot be explained by those who were already anxious or depressed using sugar as a form of comfort,” UCL old age psychiatry professor Rob Howard told the Guardian.

While this study isn’t the first to suggest this connection, further research using methods beyond surveying is needed to not only confirm the association, but also explain why it happens. And as for us ladies, well, we get to breathe a sigh of relief until the next bit of data arrives to tell us how badly we need to nix our sugar habits altogether.