TY - JOUR

T1 - Sugar rush or sugar crash?

T2 - A meta-analysis of carbohydrate effects on mood

AU - Mantantzis, Konstantinos

AU - Schlaghecken, Friederike

AU - Sunram-Lea, Sandra-Ilona

AU - Maylor, Elizabeth

N1 - This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 101, 2019 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.03.016

PY - 2019/6/1

Y1 - 2019/6/1

N2 - The effect of carbohydrate (CHO) consumption on mood is at the center of a long-standing debate, with researchers reporting both mood improvements and decrements following CHO ingestion. As global consumption of sugar-sweetened products has sharply increased in recent years, examining the validity of claims of an association between CHOs and mood is of high importance. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the relationship between acute CHO ingestion and mood. We examined the time-course of CHO-mood interactions and considered the role of moderator variables potentially affecting the CHO-mood relationship. Analysis of 176 effect sizes (31 studies, 1259 participants) revealed no positive effect of CHOs on any aspect of mood at any time-point following their consumption. However, CHO administration was associated with higher levels of fatigue and less alertness compared with placebo within the first hour post-ingestion. These findings challenge the idea that CHOs can improve mood, and might be used to increase the public’s awareness of the myth of the ‘sugar rush’, inform health policies to decrease sugar consumption, and promote healthier alternatives.

AB - The effect of carbohydrate (CHO) consumption on mood is at the center of a long-standing debate, with researchers reporting both mood improvements and decrements following CHO ingestion. As global consumption of sugar-sweetened products has sharply increased in recent years, examining the validity of claims of an association between CHOs and mood is of high importance. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the relationship between acute CHO ingestion and mood. We examined the time-course of CHO-mood interactions and considered the role of moderator variables potentially affecting the CHO-mood relationship. Analysis of 176 effect sizes (31 studies, 1259 participants) revealed no positive effect of CHOs on any aspect of mood at any time-point following their consumption. However, CHO administration was associated with higher levels of fatigue and less alertness compared with placebo within the first hour post-ingestion. These findings challenge the idea that CHOs can improve mood, and might be used to increase the public’s awareness of the myth of the ‘sugar rush’, inform health policies to decrease sugar consumption, and promote healthier alternatives.

KW - meta-analysis

KW - carbohydrates

KW - sugar

KW - mood

KW - acute

U2 - 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.03.016

DO - 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.03.016

M3 - Journal article

VL - 101

SP - 45

EP - 67

JO - Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

JF - Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

SN - 0149-7634

ER -