Do Carbs Make You Crazy?

I've been following the blog of Dr. Emily Deans, a psychiatrist in Massachusetts interested in the connection between food and mental health. She recently posted a series on the link between carbohydrates, hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), aggression, irritability, and other mental disorders.

In this article, she introduces hypoglycemia in the context of the different arguments for the effects of carbohydrates on mental disorders.

In this article, she presents evidence for the link between high-carb diets, hypoglycemia, and irritability and aggression.

In this article, she evaluates the opposite argument that a high-carb diet actually improves mood.

I was led to this series by this most recent article, in which she presents a study that shows a link between high rates of sugar consumption through sodas and aggression in teenagers.

Basically, her main argument in these posts is that it differs from person to person. In my case, I feel the initial rush of euphoria and happiness (serotonin) when I eat carbs. But it quickly does a 180º (serotonin drops), leaving me anxious, irritable, and depressed. So I'm one of those people who does really well on a very low carb (VLC) diet. But there are some people that do well on moderate and high carbohydrate diets.

I'm wondering if high-carbohydrate diets cause proportionately higher rates of hypoglycemia and associated mental health disorders in Latinos and other minority populations? Dr. Deans has clearly shown that there is a link between insulin levels and serotonin. And Latinos have higher rates of diabetes, which is caused by high insulin levels. And people with diabetes typically have higher rates of anxiety and depression. From personal experience, I have a feeling that there's a link but I'm still looking for the evidence to prove it.

I'd be interested to hear your personal experiences of hypoglycemia, irritability, aggression and other related issues!