Sugar rush? It’s a myth

Those sweet snacks and drinks make us feel MORE tired and low

aNyONE considering reaching for a chocolate bar to provide a quick pick-meup should think again.

The fabled ‘sugar rush’ caused by sweets and fizzy drinks is a myth, warn researchers.

rather than having a revitalising effect by increasing activity and boosting your mood, it has the opposite impact, a major scientific review has found.

In fact, the result is a ‘ sugar crash’ which makes people feel tired and in low spirits.

Study leader Dr Konstantinos Mantantzis said: ‘ The idea that sugar can improve mood has been widely influential in popular culture, so much so that people all over the world consume sugary drinks to become more alert or combat fatigue.’

But the academic, from Humboldt University of Berlin, added: ‘Our findings very clearly indicate that such claims are not substantiated. If anything, sugar will probably make you feel worse.’

along with researchers from the Universities of Warwick and Lancaster, academics analysed 31 scientific studies looking at the effects of sugar on mood.

The data covered more than 1,300 participants, with the factors assessed including alertness, anger, depression and fatigue.

Overall, the researchers found that sugar has virtually no effect on mood, regardless of how much is eaten or if people carried out strenuous exercise after eating it.

Within just an hour of consumption, the studies showed that sugar lowered alertness.

Those who ate sugary products also felt more tired and less alert than those who had not. Professor Elizabeth Maylor, of the University of Warwick, said: ‘We hope that our findings will go a long way to dispel the myth of the “sugar rush” and inform public health policies to decrease sugar consumption.’

Dr Sandra Sunram-Lea, of Lancaster University, said: ‘The rise in obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome highlights the need for evidence-based dietary strategies to promote healthy lifestyle across the lifespan.

‘Our findings indicate that sugary drinks or snacks do not provide a quick “fuel refill” to make us feel more alert.’

although the study was based on adults, Dr Sunram-Lea said it was likely to apply to children. She advised parents to ‘cut back on giving your children sugar and this will have health benefits’.

The research entitled Sugar rush or Sugar Crash? is published in Neuroscience & Biobehavioral reviews.