Think Sugar’s Causing Hyperactivity? Think Again
It’s that sweet, milky white like substance that has the tendency to trick you into thinking that it’s the cause of hyperactivity. Sugar is one of the many favored ingredients in all kinds of junk and processed foods. It’s what makes things like candy and soda more tastier and sweeter along with all the other active ingredients. However, believe it or not sugar isn’t the cause of hyperactivity. So if you have a younger sibling bolting around the house pretending to be superman, it’s not because of sugar.
According to (BID Medical Center), “...children were given either one diet high in sucrose, one high in aspartame (an artificial sweetener)...during each three-week period” (1). In other words, both “sugar sensitive” preschoolers and grade schoolers at the ages between three and ten were given a closely watched sugar diet to see whether their behavior standards changed over time. Every child's metabolism is different and this caused a variety of results. They believe that children with (ADHD) were more likely to behave differently when digesting sugar than regular children. However, most of Harvard’s results stated that the majority of the children weren’t affected by the sugar in their system at all. In more accuracy, this experiment proved to tell that children link their emotions and surrounding with what they are eating. In this case, it’s sugar.
Furthermore, (Scope Blog) stated, “... eating sugar doesn’t make children hyperactive. But as Robinson notes in the Chronicle piece, there are plenty of other good reasons, besides hyperactivity, to limit children’s sugar consumption. Two such reasons are sugar’s connections to promoting obesity and dental cavities.” Several things noticed in this informative blog is the tie between the amount of sugar consumption and diseases. Although sugar doesn’t necessarily affect the children's behavior, it does affect their body. Younger children are in the time of growth and development. Any type of sugar can cause damage to their system. Like the (Scope Blog) stated, sugar in most cases certainly promotes obesity and cavities. My point is that even if sugar doesn’t affect the behavior of a human being, it doesn’t mean you can go binge on it. Sugar is still a pretty big epidemic in the United States.
Last but not least, (Yale Scientific Magazine) states, “... scientists have discovered that no substantial evidence exists to support the claim that sugar causes hyperactivity…” (1). Without tests or the scientific method, this statement would be true. However, after reaching to many researchers and experimenting actual tests, the outcome is the same. Children's behaviors aren’t influenced by sugar. The statement above also works half and half with me. Meaning this supports half my claim that kids aren’t affected by sugar but then again there isn’t any sufficient evidence. So let's make our own evidence shall we? If you were a child, would you be more focused on the candy and soda or the party and your friends? If you would focus more on your surroundings and people, you won’t pay attention to what you are putting inside of your body. However, if you do pay attention to the sugar and sweets you might restrict yourself from grabbing more because you are focusing on what you are putting into your body. It’s all physiological when you think about it.
In conclusion, children are just simple not affected by sugar. However, everyone is different and it depends on who you are. All articles stated that children are hyper because they are in a new environment with their friends and family. That is what causes them to get excited, not the sugar. Sugar can make the blood sugar spike, however the body recovers quickly by giving insulin. Unfortunately, the more insulin needed to process the carbohydrates in the processed sugar, the energy gets stored as fat. It is this never ending cycle with sugar. Luckley, sugar doesn’t make you hyper.
(Yale Scientific Magazine)
Huynh, Nancy. "Does Sugar Really Make Children Hyper?" Yale Scientific Magazine. Yale Scientific, 1 Sept. 2010. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. <http://www.yalescientific.org/2010/09/mythbusters-does-sugar-really-make-children-hyper/>.
(Scope Blog)
Digitale, Erin. "Debunking a Halloween Myth: Sugar and Hyperactivity."Scope Blog RSS. Stanford Medicine, 31 Oct. 2012. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. <http://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2012/10/31/debunking-a-halloween-myth-sugar-and-hyperactivity/>.
(BID Medical Center)
Rudis, Jacquelyn. "Health Myths Center." Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, 22 Sept. 2012. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. <http://www.bidmc.org/YourHealth/HolisticHealth/HealthMythsCenter.aspx?ChunkID=157003>.
*Tip- These links above /\ are linked to a google drive document which contains my science toolkit. It will not direct you to the actual page that I had found my evidence in.
It’s that sweet, milky white like substance that has the tendency to trick you into thinking that it’s the cause of hyperactivity. Sugar is one of the many favored ingredients in all kinds of junk and processed foods. It’s what makes things like candy and soda more tastier and sweeter along with all the other active ingredients. However, believe it or not sugar isn’t the cause of hyperactivity. So if you have a younger sibling bolting around the house pretending to be superman, it’s not because of sugar.
According to (BID Medical Center), “...children were given either one diet high in sucrose, one high in aspartame (an artificial sweetener)...during each three-week period” (1). In other words, both “sugar sensitive” preschoolers and grade schoolers at the ages between three and ten were given a closely watched sugar diet to see whether their behavior standards changed over time. Every child's metabolism is different and this caused a variety of results. They believe that children with (ADHD) were more likely to behave differently when digesting sugar than regular children. However, most of Harvard’s results stated that the majority of the children weren’t affected by the sugar in their system at all. In more accuracy, this experiment proved to tell that children link their emotions and surrounding with what they are eating. In this case, it’s sugar.
Furthermore, (Scope Blog) stated, “... eating sugar doesn’t make children hyperactive. But as Robinson notes in the Chronicle piece, there are plenty of other good reasons, besides hyperactivity, to limit children’s sugar consumption. Two such reasons are sugar’s connections to promoting obesity and dental cavities.” Several things noticed in this informative blog is the tie between the amount of sugar consumption and diseases. Although sugar doesn’t necessarily affect the children's behavior, it does affect their body. Younger children are in the time of growth and development. Any type of sugar can cause damage to their system. Like the (Scope Blog) stated, sugar in most cases certainly promotes obesity and cavities. My point is that even if sugar doesn’t affect the behavior of a human being, it doesn’t mean you can go binge on it. Sugar is still a pretty big epidemic in the United States.
Last but not least, (Yale Scientific Magazine) states, “... scientists have discovered that no substantial evidence exists to support the claim that sugar causes hyperactivity…” (1). Without tests or the scientific method, this statement would be true. However, after reaching to many researchers and experimenting actual tests, the outcome is the same. Children's behaviors aren’t influenced by sugar. The statement above also works half and half with me. Meaning this supports half my claim that kids aren’t affected by sugar but then again there isn’t any sufficient evidence. So let's make our own evidence shall we? If you were a child, would you be more focused on the candy and soda or the party and your friends? If you would focus more on your surroundings and people, you won’t pay attention to what you are putting inside of your body. However, if you do pay attention to the sugar and sweets you might restrict yourself from grabbing more because you are focusing on what you are putting into your body. It’s all physiological when you think about it.
In conclusion, children are just simple not affected by sugar. However, everyone is different and it depends on who you are. All articles stated that children are hyper because they are in a new environment with their friends and family. That is what causes them to get excited, not the sugar. Sugar can make the blood sugar spike, however the body recovers quickly by giving insulin. Unfortunately, the more insulin needed to process the carbohydrates in the processed sugar, the energy gets stored as fat. It is this never ending cycle with sugar. Luckley, sugar doesn’t make you hyper.
(Yale Scientific Magazine)
Huynh, Nancy. "Does Sugar Really Make Children Hyper?" Yale Scientific Magazine. Yale Scientific, 1 Sept. 2010. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. <http://www.yalescientific.org/2010/09/mythbusters-does-sugar-really-make-children-hyper/>.
(Scope Blog)
Digitale, Erin. "Debunking a Halloween Myth: Sugar and Hyperactivity."Scope Blog RSS. Stanford Medicine, 31 Oct. 2012. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. <http://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2012/10/31/debunking-a-halloween-myth-sugar-and-hyperactivity/>.
(BID Medical Center)
Rudis, Jacquelyn. "Health Myths Center." Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, 22 Sept. 2012. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. <http://www.bidmc.org/YourHealth/HolisticHealth/HealthMythsCenter.aspx?ChunkID=157003>.
*Tip- These links above /\ are linked to a google drive document which contains my science toolkit. It will not direct you to the actual page that I had found my evidence in.