Mental Health and Nutrition

As a counselor, I see clients who have problems with depression, anger, alcohol abuse, Attention Deficit Disorder, eating disorders, etc.

Actually, ADD/ADHD is the leading mental health problem in children in the United States, (Southern Medical Journal, 1999, 946-954), and Depression is a leading cause of disability in adults (Global Burden of Disease Study, Lancet, May 1997).

Scientists know that there are behavioral disorders that are likely to respond to dietary interventions (Christiansen L. Diet-Behavior Relationships, American Psychological Association Publications, 1996, 168) but more patients are treated with medication than with diet changes. It is rare that a counselor or physician will look at diet as a factor in a treatment plan for mental health problems.

I have certainly found in my practice some cases where the client’s diet has been a factor to consider! Obviously we can’t cover all the areas that connect nutrition to mental health in one article, so this one will deal with what I consider the primary problem - sugar.

Studies were done on children 6-19 years old between the years of 1963-2000. These studies showed that overweight children within all races and both sexes in 1963 were 4.2% in the 6-11 age group, and 4.6% in the 12-19 age group. By the year 2000 this had increased to 15.3% in the 6-11 age group and 15.5% in the 12-19 age group. (National Health Examination Study, table 71). The percentage of the population that was overweight in 1962 was about 21%. In the year 2000 it was estimated at 55% and is projected to be a staggering 80% by the year 2010. In 1962, the number of Americans with diabetes was approximately 1.5 million. In the year 2000 it was 22 million, and is expected to be 36 million by 2010. (Global Science Network) Certainly we have to take into consideration the increase in population for the diabetes statistics, but all the numbers are serious.

"Obesity and diabetes are among our top public health problems in the United States today," said HHS [Health & Human Services] Secretary Tommy G. Thompson. “A report in the Oct. 9 [2002] Journal of the American Medical Assn. found that 30.5% of Americans are obese, up from 22.9% a decade ago. And 64.5%, or nearly two-thirds, are overweight… More than vanity is at stake: Obesity raises the risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, angina, and lung disease, among other ailments. It accounts for about 300,000 deaths a year, second only to tobacco.” (Defeat Diabetes Foundation) (Obesity is 20% for men and 25% for women of body fat over their ideal weight for age, height, sex and bone structure).

“ The prevalence of both diagnosed diabetes and obesity varied widely among states. Mississippi had the highest rate of obesity (25.9 percent), and Colorado had the lowest (14.4 percent). Alabama had the highest rate of diagnosed diabetes (10.5 percent), and Minnesota the lowest (5.0 percent)”. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)

In 1962, the average person consumed what would seem like a huge amount of sugar – 116 lbs per year. However, by the year 2000 the average person consumed 150 lbs of sugar per year and it is projected to be around 162 lbs per year by 2010. (Global Science Network)

You might believe that these statistics can’t possibly be true, especially where the sugar consumption is concerned. However, it really doesn’t take much to make a pound of sugar! Consider that a sugar cube, which also equals a teaspoon or a packet, is 4 grams of sugar. There are 113 teaspoons of sugar per pound. This is 452 grams. A 12-ounce can of ®Mt. Dew contains 46 grams of sugar, or 11.5 teaspoons of sugar. Now, convert that into the largest soda drinks that most convenience stores have, which is 64 ounces. That is 5.33 times the amount of the 12 oz can, which means that each of those extra large sodas contain 61.29 teaspoons of sugar, or 245.18 grams. It takes less than 2 of these large sodas to make a pound of sugar.

No caring parent would sit their child down to a plate with over 61 sugar cubes on it to eat – or sit down to that themselves! However, how often do you see children of school age walking around with one of these large sodas? If a child consumes 4 of these 64 ounce sodas per week year round, that is 112.32 lbs of sugar in a year comprised only in these sodas, let alone any other sugar. That is almost the total average amount of sugar consumed per person in 1962, and probably more than many of the children weigh who drink these sodas!

You might think that just a couple sodas per day wouldn’t be a concern – certainly it’s better than the amount we just spoke of, but it’s probably much more than most people would imagine. Two 12 ounce cans of ®Mt. Dew provides 23 teaspoons of sugar per day, and if it’s seven days a week, that’s 161 teaspoons per week, or 8,372 per year. That equates into approximately 74 lbs of sugar per year.

“From 1970 to 1998, the average per-person consumption of soda in the U.S. climbed from 22.2 gallons per year to 56 gallons. That may sound impossible, but not to soft-drink executives. As one former Coca-Cola Co. exec says: ‘Have you ever seen how many 32-ounce Big Gulps a teenage boy can drink on a summer day?’" (Defeat Diabetes Foundation) Remember that in their statistics they are taking into consideration people like me who never drink sodas, and those who have just one now and then.

Sugar in soda is not the only sugar consumed, of course. There are bakery goods, candies, ice cream, etc. In addition, besides the other sugars of honey and molasses, white flour, white rice and even potatoes react in the body as sugar. When considering all this, it isn’t difficult to surmise that the statistics ARE correct! Many people have diets high in fast foods – pizza, burgers, and fries, so we can see additional proof that there is not much mystery to the obesity, diabetes, etc.! In fact, we also need to consider that the original ®McDonald’s French Fries was 200 calories and if you supersize them now, you get 610 calories! A muffin in 1957 was around 1.5 ounces, and now it’s around half a pound!

Our brains need stimulation, oxygen, and food to function optimally, and the only fuel the brain uses is glucose. Our ability to think, solve problems, and reason clearly is impaired if the glucose drops in the brain. So, you might think then that we should have sugar for our brains. However, too many simple carbohydrates cause the blood sugars to spike and then drop too low.

If a person even has what they consider a “good” breakfast of buttered white toast, orange juice, and perhaps a scrambled egg, the egg will help keep the sugars in better balance for awhile. But the juice and toast, however healthy the juice might be, are going to bring up the blood sugar. (Which is why diabetics who get into trouble with their blood sugar dropping too low keep orange juice around; it’s a very quick sugar help). A little juice is good, but eating the whole orange is much better for you.

Do most people even have time for this type of breakfast? Generally someone grabs a cereal bar of some sort, or skips breakfast, or the adults have coffee and perhaps a Danish. This sends the blood sugar up quite high, which keeps the person going for awhile. However, the healthiest is to keep the blood sugar on a pretty even keel, so this type of breakfast high usually follows the gravitational rule and falls sharply long before lunch.

The person may feel a bit shaky, headachy perhaps, and fatigued. So, they might take a break and go out to the candy machine for a little treat to get them through until lunch. Up and down like a roller coaster the blood sugar goes. Low blood sugar is called hypoglycemia and while not everyone feels the results of this type of eating right away, it can cause numerous problems, and is believed to be at least a good part of a problem fairly recently discovered called Insulin Resistant Syndrome.

This syndrome comes from the insulins staying too high. The insulin isn’t getting into the tissues and so the poor, overworked pancreas puts out more insulin. If the pancreas is unable to sustain this high level of insulin, diabetes occurs. The symptoms are high triglycerides, (called the “sweet cholesterol” - a natural fat made up of one molecule of glycerol with three molecules of fatty acids), belly/upper body fat, hypoglycemia, high blood pressure, and in some women, ovarian cystic disease. All of these things additionally are considered independent risk factors for cardiac disease. It is not clear how insulin resistance contributes to the presence of high blood pressure, but it is clear that the high insulin levels resulting from insulin resistance contribute to abnormalities in triglycerides. The results of the PROCAM (Prospective Cardiovascular Munster) study showed that the presence of diabetes or high blood pressure alone increased the risk of heart attack by 2.5 times. When both diabetes and high blood pressure were present, the risk was increased 8 times.

Fortunately, there are natural solutions to help bring the insulins down, and a naturopath should be able to share these solutions with you. However, what does any of this have to do with mental health?

Besides the obvious factors that when you have disease, you will not be experiencing optimal mental health either, let’s go back to what our brains need to think clearly. That is again the need for stimulation, oxygen, and glucose. When the blood sugar drops in this merry-go-round of sugar spiking and dropping, the brain is unable to function properly and can lead to the adrenal glands releasing adrenal hormones into the blood stream. This in some people produces one or more of the following: anxiety, trembling, panic attacks, depression, irritability, headaches, fatigue, confusion, and even anger.

The ability to think clearly becomes impaired as the blood sugar drops lower and it affects how a person acts. Since glucose is as necessary for proper function of the brain as is oxygen, depending upon the person, having the glucose drop can cause anything from a simple yawn to violence. “Sugar blues” was considered to be an “old wives tale” but really is true! Is this an excuse for violence? Absolutely not! But, it is an explanation that a person who has experienced anything like this should learn and change before something drastic happens!

Of course, some people can eat a dozen donuts and have coffee at one sitting and it seems there are no ill-effects. However, if they do that too much, they will likely show evidence of the Insulin Resistant Syndrome in their bellies and lab tests whether they “feel fine” or not.

In women, the psychological effects of hypoglycemia are more commonly anxiety or panic attacks. But in men, not only does a hypoglycemic attack release adrenalin, but also testosterone. In some this may trigger irrational anger. Men who change personalities very dramatically while drinking are generally of this type.

Anthropological studies were done in the 1970’s among the Quolla Indians of Peru. There studies were undertaken because the Quollas have been known for their violence and unpremeditated murder rates since the 16th Century A.D. “It has been observed that although violence is not condoned in their culture, many of the violent acts committed by the Quolla are irrational and stimulated by minor events”. (Benton, 2002) The researchers found the diet of these people to be very poor – high in refined sugars and alcohol, but short on basic nutrition. Many of the Quollas allowed themselves to have blood drawn, and every single tribesman tested turned out to be hypoglycemic. Additionally, the most violent had higher surges of adrenaline when their glucose levels fell too low.

When the blood sugar falls too low and then the adrenalin is released, our ability to reason falls off drastically and our “animal brain” is in charge. Anyone who has a tendency toward abuse and combines hypoglycemia and alcohol could be a time bomb of abuse waiting to happen.

We know that children who intake too much sugar often become overactive, but most parents do not realize that “just because they’ve had a soda or two” the reaction can occur. So, the parents think the child has Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and take them to their physician for medication, when cutting out many of the sweets and eating more balanced meals could be the answer.

Certainly not all ADD/ADHD is caused by poor nutrition. However I am of the opinion that many children are misdiagnosed as hyperactive when nutrition should be considered first.

I have also read case studies as well as seeing a 12 year old client of my own become less angry simply due to keeping their blood sugar normal. Those children will hopefully be trained that alcohol should never be used!

So, how do we keep the blood sugar normal? The obvious initial answer is to cut out the majority of simple carbohydrates (refined sugars) in our diets. However, we need a proper balance of protein along with whatever else we are eating to keep the blood sugar normal. Eating too much protein is not good either, as protein as well as carbohydrates can’t be stored in the body and the excess is converted to fat. But keeping a small bag of raw almonds in a purse or pocket is beneficial for someone who has hypoglycemia and needs something between meals, along with more healthful regular meals. Eating a little protein (such as 4 or 5 almonds) often can stave off hypoglycemia and protect from these negative psychological effects.

Another obvious solution is to cut out alcohol. While some people believe that a little alcohol is “good” for you, I have never seen it to be beneficial, especially in a marriage. If a person is hypoglycemic as well, certainly they have a serious need to cut all alcohol from their lives.

While not everyone who reads this suffers from hypoglycemia as a diagnosis, the fact remains if you look at the statistics related at the beginning of this article, and how much sugar is in our foods, working on cutting these down can only be beneficial to your health! Perhaps you will find that you have had some depression or anxiety that lifts as you fill your life with better nutrition. Additionally, the better you feel, the greater the chances you will feel like exercising, and exercise in itself is a good mood lifter.

Are all the clients with depression, anxiety, eating disorders, alcohol abuse, etc I see in my offices related to poor eating habits? Of course not; brain chemicals, temperaments, external influences, etc. are certainly where the majority of these problems lie. But, if even 5% of my clients have some nutritional deficiencies, how many millions who are not seeing a counselor for their mental health problems do have a problem with sugar? How many children who are drinking those huge sodas will have ill-effects, both physically and mentally? I believe the numbers probably would be as staggering as the statistics I’ve related – or perhaps more so!

Most people want vital health – both physical and mental. Our Creator desires that we live in the most optimal health, also! Jesus said in John 10:10 “…I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” While this means more than health of our bodies and minds, Jesus certainly desires us to be healthy in all the areas of our lives. Becoming educated in even an area like sugar is a good start to that abundant living!

Dr. Carol Humphreys, Licensed Professional Christian Therapist
e-mail bewell@bendnet.com
or write to Ask Dr. Carol, P.O. Box 11, Mitchell, Oregon, 97750 — 541/462-3223
Photo Credit: By Olde Time Photos