Sugar may be bad not only for your teeth and your waistline but also for your mental health, claimed a study Thursday that was met with skepticism by other experts.
Researchers at university college London compared the reputed sugar intake of more than 8,000 people in a long-term British study to their mood.
The study participants, civil servants were monitored from 1985-1980 and filled out a questionnaire every few two years thereafter.
Researchers examined data from that study for an association between sugar intake and "common mental disorder" such as anxiety and depression.
The UCL team found "an increased likelihood" for men with a higher intake of sweets foods and drinks to develop CMD after five years and a general "adverse effect" on mental health for both sexes.
They concluded in a study published in the journal scientific reports that "lower intake of sugar maybe associated with better psychology health."
But dietician Catherine Collins, a spokeswoman for the British Dietician Association said this recommendations was  "unproven"
Problems with the study, she said included that sugar consumption was  self reported and that sugar intake from alcohol was not counted.
The researchers, she said appeared to Confuse naturally occurring sugar from foodstuffs such as milk and 'free sugar ' added to hot drinks or in sweets.
"The dietary analysis makes it impossible to justify the bold claims made by the research as about sugar and depression in men." Collins said via the Science Media Centre in London.
"Reducing intake of free sugars is good for your teeth  and may be good for your weight too. But as protection against depression? It's not proven."
Nutrition expect Tom Sanders agreed the results should be interpreted with caution. "From a scientific standpoint it is difficult to see how sugar in food would differ from other sources of carbohydrates on mental health as both are broken down to simple sugars in the gut before absorption" he said.