Sweet Misery: Association of Sugar Consumption With Anxiety and Depression-A Systematic Review

Food choices we make have profound implications on mental well-being, and this is an area that demands detailed investigation. Hence, this systematic review was conducted to synthesize evidence to elucidate if sugar consumption is associated with anxiety and depression.

Electronic databases of PubMed, Cochrane, Scopus, Web of Science, Google scholar, and EMBASE were searched for relevant articles. Cross-sectional, cohort, and case-control studies assessing the influence of sugar consumption on anxiety and depression were included. The Newcastle Ottawa Scale was used for assessing the risk of bias. A systematic review was conducted according to PRISMA guidelines.

Twenty-six articles were included for systematic review, out of which 14 were cross-sectional, 10 were cohort, and two were case-control studies. Risk of bias was assessed across all included studies. Nineteen studies were rated as high quality, while the remaining seven were of moderate quality. There was a considerable degree of heterogeneity between the studies, with a wide range of age groups and a lack of consistency in tools to measure anxiety and/or depression, and hence a meta-analysis was not conducted. However, an overall positive association was observed between high intake of sugar and increased risk of anxiety and depressive symptoms in different populations across the globe.

Reducing sugar intake may serve as a modifiable risk factor for mental disorders, underscoring the need for public health interventions. A further understanding of the causal directions, as well as mediation mechanisms underlying the complex relationship between sugar consumption and mental disorders, is essential.