The Study
Glucose but not protein or fat load amplifies the cortisol response to psychosocial stress.
This study found that drinking sugary water made guys’ stress hormone go up more than drinking plain water or milk or oil — but we don’t know if the researchers made sure the guys didn’t know what they were drinking, so it might not be totally fair. So we can say sugar might make stress hormones rise more, but we can’t be sure it’s the sugar’s fault.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
When people drank sugar water before a stressful test, their stress hormone (cortisol) went up more than when they drank water, protein, or fat. Protein, fat, and water all had the same effect.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 543 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — eating sugar before stress may make your body react more strongly to stress than eating protein, fat, or nothing.
- 2Glucose group: higher cortisol than others.
- 3Protein, fat, water: no difference from each other.
- 4Cortisol went up more when blood sugar went up (r = 0.49).
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Hormones and behavior
Year
2002
Authors
E. González-Bono, N. Rohleder, D. Hellhammer, A. Salvador, C. Kirschbaum
Related Content
Claims (6)
If a young man drinks sugar water before a stressful situation, his body releases more of the stress hormone cortisol than if he drinks protein, fat, or just water.
When healthy young men get stressed, the more their stress hormone (cortisol) spikes, the more their blood sugar tends to go up too.
When healthy young men get stressed out, the more their stress hormone (cortisol) spikes, the more their blood sugar tends to go up too.
If you eat protein, fat, or just drink water before a stressful situation, your body’s stress hormone (cortisol) reacts about the same no matter what you ate or drank.
If you're a healthy young man and you eat protein, fat, or drink water before a stressful situation, your stress hormone (cortisol) doesn't go up much more than if you'd eaten sugar instead.
Eating more fat might tell your body to stop producing so much of the stress hormone cortisol, as if it’s hitting a brake on your stress system.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.