This post originally appeared on Pills to Paleo, my former website.
Since June of this year, I’ve completed two successful Whole30s, and I’m about to embark on another starting January 1st. Because I’m still trying to lose weight, and because I love how I feel when I’m eating Whole30, I still eat a clean, paleo-style diet when I’m not officially on the program. However, I do allow myself a few treats here and there — some dark chocolate, a few handfuls of homemade paleo granola, etc.
This Christmas, I decided to make some extra-special treats to take to a family gathering. These paleo salted caramel maple pecan pie bars from The Foodie Teen were divine (seriously one of the best desserts I’ve ever eaten). I also made some paleo apple cinnamon cookies from Living Healthy with Chocolate. The recipe flopped on me (I may have done something wrong), but I turned the mess into some pretty tasty bars.
I’m happy to say that I didn’t go crazy and eat the entire batch of both, BUT I had a seriously negative reaction to the sugar. This surprised me, since I’ve been able to tolerate dark chocolate and paleo granola, but the fact is, these treats contained WAY more sugar than I’m used to eating. Lesson learned? I can only indulge in a very small amount of sugar.
Please note: If you can tolerate sugar, I highly recommend both desserts. My reaction was an unfortunate side effect.
Sugar Symptoms
Anxiety: Immediately after taking a few bites of the bars, my heart started racing and my face flushed. I also experienced intense anxiety — something I haven’t felt very often since I went paleo six months ago. I felt panicky, feverish, and trapped. My mind was swirling with bad thoughts. You think I would have stopped after that, but I didn’t — I continued to eat the treats on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Yikes.
Sadness: My negative self-talk came back with a vengeance, and overall, I felt mopey, defeated, and sorry for myself. Before I went paleo, this was normal. Now, I realize just how awful I felt all the time.
Paranoia: This ties in with the anxiety and sadness. Essentially, I became convinced that everyone was harboring bad thoughts about me. Not fun.
Crankiness: My temper was short, I was snappy, and I didn’t feel like socializing. I managed to “hold it together” OK, but I’m sure my attitude was palpable. This is the opposite of how I would have liked to feel, especially given that I was surrounded by family.
Digestive upset: Though I didn’t eat anything “not paleo,” my stomach took a hit from the sugar. Gas, bloating, diarrhea, and stomach cramps put a damper on my holiday spirit.
Lesson Learned
While I am swearing off sugar for a while, I’m not swearing it off for good. Though I’m bummed I felt so crappy over the holidays, I’m happy that I learned more about my tolerance for sugar. After my January Whole30, I might indulge in a little dark chocolate, but I won’t go much farther than that.
I have to work harder than most people to maintain mental well-being and happiness. Is that a drag? Sometimes, yes. But most of the time, it isn’t. For so long, I had no idea how to fix the anxiety and depression that ruled my life. Now, I know that I can control about 70% of it by controlling what I put on my plate. It takes extra effort to eat clean, but the reward is HUGE.
I’ve got a slow cooker full of bone broth and lots of green veggies on hand. I know I’ll be feeling better within a day or so, and I’m thankful I know exactly how to get back on track.
What about you? Have you noticed a connection between sugar, anxiety, and depression? I’d love to hear your experiences!
Since I started Whole30 in December, I have felt less anxious. I love this! I have suffered from GAD for 20+ years and nothing except Lexapro helped me. While I am not against the medicine, I am terrible about remembering to take my medicine when I feel good. Finding it so promising that I could/can possibly manage it by eating Paleo or Whole30.
Thank you for sharing your story. I found your IG a couple of weeks ago and you give me encouragement!
Hi Maggie,
Glad to hear you’re feeling better! I’m not against medication for everyone, but I am against it for me. More on that in my FAQ.
As far as living without medication, it’s a very personal decision. I have found that this way of eating is incredible for supporting a healthy mind — like I said, about 70% of my mood seems to be linked to what I eat. The other 30% I have to work on with personal development. The fact that you forget to take it when you are feeling OK might suggest that it could be time to consider a taper, but again, that’s very personal.
Glad you found me here and on Instagram! Keep in touch. 🙂
I did a Whole90 this past summer, and I did notice a reduction my (self-diagnosed) GAD. Though I’ve been eating Paleo and mostly sugar-free since then, I notice that eating anything sweet has a cumulative effect for me: I don’t notice the effects right away, but after a few days in a row of eating chocolate or even dates, I can feel myself getting more spacey, jittery, and uptight; my brain gets foggy; and my blood sugar gets out of whack. That said, sometimes the sugar consumption coincides with stressful events, so it can be a chicken-or-egg situation as well…
Also wondering if cutting out caffeine could help. What is your experience with that, Holly (if any)?
(I don’t consume a lot of caffeine – one large mug of black tea in the morning and usually a coffee in the afternoon.)
Hi, Vanessa!
Congrats on the Whole90. That’s awesome! It’s pretty crazy how subtle things have the power to throw you out of whack.
As far as caffeine, I’ve done a lot of reading, and people can be extremely sensitive. I know Melissa Hartwig — co-author of It Starts with Food — had to give it up for good, and she swears by the benefits. If you haven’t checked out these articles, give them a read:
http://whole9life.com/2011/01/the-coffee-manifesto/
http://whole9life.com/2011/03/caffeine-clean-four-months-without-coffee/
Personally, I have experimented with limiting it and cutting it out completely. For a couple of months, I was only having a cup of green tea in the morning and one at lunch. I definitely felt cleaner and lighter, and it was easier for me to wake up in the morning. I didn’t feel like I NEEDED a cup of coffee to come out of a zombie-like state. The tea was enough.
Life and a couple of nights of bad sleep got in the way, so I’m back to my one-cup-a-day coffee habit. I have it first thing in the morning with a little ghee or coconut oil blended in. It doesn’t seem to have much impact on my anxiety if I keep it at one cup. However, I plan to switch back to green tea in the new year, because I miss not feeling tethered “ball and chain” to coffee.
Short answer: Coffee affects different people differently, so a little self-experimentation is probably in order. MANY people say it triggers their anxiety.
Thanks for the feedback! I don’t feel like I’m *addicted* to caffeine, by any means (I just love the taste of coffee and black tea, and decaf tastes totally different!), but perhaps some good old-fashioned biohacking is in order 😉
Oh, I’ve definitely felt icky over the past few days having consumed just a tiny bit more sugar than I’m used to – I normally enjoy some dark chocolate too and taste test my treat recipes once or twice a week, but like you I over-indulged just a little over the holidays! It’s amazing what that semingly tiny amount of sugar can do. Thank you so much for sharing my pecan bars – so glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
Alessandra, they were THE BEST! My family gobbled them right up. So sad I can’t enjoy them more often.