Sugar, Hormones, and ADHD
Sugar, Hormones, and ADHD
How Sugar Can Worsen Your Menopausal Symptoms And Create Havoc in Your ADHD Life
Sugar and its impact on perimenopause and ADHD
It probably doesn’t come as ‘news’ to you that a diet high in sugar is not great for your health. This goes for everyone but limiting your sugar intake is especially important if you’re a midlife woman with ADHD.
Sugar can affect your hormone levels and worsen your menopausal symptoms. Eating a lot of sugar can make your body’s already-fluctuating oestrogen take bigger spikes and falls - which in turn can lead to worsening symptoms like more hot flashes, mood swings and insomnia.
Sugar can increase your risk of diabetes and heart disease. Perimenopause can make you more insulin resistant, which means your body does not use insulin effectively to lower your blood sugar levels. High blood sugar levels can damage your organs and blood vessels, and increase your risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular problems.
Sugar can affect your mood and mental health. Perimenopause causes changes in your brain chemistry, which can affect your mood, memory, concentration, and cognitive function. Eating too much sugar can worsen these effects by causing blood sugar spikes and crashes, which can make you feel irritable, anxious, depressed, or foggy. Not exactly what you need when you’re also dealing with ADHD!
Sugar stimulates the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that is involved in reward and motivation. Women with ADHD already have low levels of dopamine, which makes us seek stimulation and novelty. Eating sugar can temporarily boost our dopamine levels, but also make us crave more sugar - which can lead to overeating or binge eating. Sounds familiar?!
Sugar can trigger inflammation in the brain, which can affect the balance of serotonin, another neurotransmitter that regulates mood and emotions. Women with ADHD already have low levels of serotonin, which can make us prone to depression, anxiety, or irritability. Eating sugar can worsen these symptoms by causing mood swings, aggression, or meltdowns .
If you’re thinking “Gosh, that’s a lot!” you’re quite right. As a midflife woman with ADHD, eating a high-sugar diet is most likely going to make your life a lot harder.
So if you think you’re eating too much of the sweet stuff it’s time to try and cut down. But please also remember that you don’t need to cut out sugar altogether. A healthy diet has room for some cake and refined carbs! It’s the balance that matters.
Sugar comes in many disguises
There are over 50 different names for sugar! Some of the ways added sugar can be listed on ingredient labels include
sucrose
glucose
fructose
maltose
fruit juice
molasses
hydrolysed starch
invert sugar
corn syrup
honey
If you’re unsure which foods are high or low in sugar, check th efood label:
high in sugar – 22.5g or more of total sugar per 100g
low in sugar – 5g or less of total sugar per 100g
Resources
If you’re trying to cut down on sugar to manage your perimenopause and ADHD symptoms here are some resources that may help:
8 Ways to cut down on sugar. Eating too much sugar can have negative effects on your health and well-being. Nutritionist Kerry Torrens shares some simple ways to cut down on the sweet stuff.
The British Heart Foundation’s infographic on How to spot sugar on food labels
To wrap up…
I said it already but it’s worth mentioning again: There’s no need to completely eliminate sugar from your diet. Don’t add more stress to your life by trying to go 100% sugar free. Instead, find easy ways to reduce your sugar intake, one small step at a time.
Until next time,
Julia
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