Eli5: Do we actually get sugar highs and sugar rushes as kids or was that just myths?
In: Chemistry
Now that I’m on a very low sugar eating plan, i can absolutely *guarantee* that sugar rushes are a thing. I can tell you exactly when I’ve had too much because my brain goes *spastic* and i get extremely fidgety.
Yes but it’s the dopamine and endorphins that get you high. Younger children are especially affected. They use sugar water as analgesic for children too young to take painkillers.
A small amount of the sugar is absorbed by your cells while the rest gets processed in the liver. So it’s not like you’re getting an energy boost from blood sugar. It’s the neurotransmitters that give you a mood boost.
Sugar/carbs = glucose = quick access energy
Athletes will use that advantage before sports but often it will be natural, so paired with fibre / water e.g. fruit.
Added sugar / carb heavy foods causes glucose spikes > insulin > fat storage > fat burn blocking. Fructose being metabolised similar to alcohol, and it doesn’t take much to overload the liver.
I’d say the result is more sleepy (food coma) as the body tries to deal with the sugar overload.
A myth.
Sugar has effects on our blood sugar (as carbohydrates do in general) and these states are called hyperglycemic (high blood sugar) and hypoglycemic (low blood sugar). Neither make you hyperactive or give you a “rush”. Many, many studies have been carries out on this, attempting to find a link, and none have ever found a relation between hyperactivity and sugary foods.
Interestingly, the myth is so commonly believed, that parents of children will report their children as acting more erratic and “hyper” if they think they’ve had sugar, when they actually did not. The placebo effect is a powerful thing, even vicariously.
It’s only a perception bias from the parents.
There was a study where they did it blind :
It’s enough to tell the parents that their kids had sugar (even if they didn’t) for them to “notice” the sugar rush.
Conversely, you can give kids sugar and not tell the parents , and they won’t mention anything.
Kids are energetic and annoying, sugar is an easy culprit
Hyperglycemia us a thing but it doesn’t make you hyperactive quite the opposite
Its very rare and short in non diabetic people
It makes you sluggish and nauseous
If you have diabetes it can kill you
Kids get excited when you give them a treat. Excited kids act hyper. It’s not the sugar itself (fuel for your cells), but the happiness/excitement that makes the “rush”
Edit: however if you give them a sweet, caffeinated drink like coca cola, then you’re adding the stimulation from the caffeine to the excitement, which would boost it even further
People tend to think of sugar as an ingredient we can add to our body in order to make our body work faster and our mind be manic.
That’s not how it actually works. We do need to maintain a healthy level of sugar in our blood. But when we dump a lot of sugar into our bodies, especially sucrose or fructose, the result isn’t tons of extra energy; it’s tons of extra insulin, and fat deposits on our livers, and it can trigger headaches.
Too little sugar also triggers headaches! Sugar isn’t magic and it isn’t a monster. But the Western diet, especially the American diet, contains a quantity and type of sugar that is recognized by science as being very bad for the body. Laypeople know this, but they create a more direct link in their minds between sugar intake and behavior than science supports.
I read a study in college that there was no sugar rush, only excitement over getting a treat that caused the energy surge.
Dont need an research to realise my energy instantly goes up after having a chocolate. Might affect other people differently, but i am 100% sure i get s sugar rush at 30 yo. Especially on an empty stomach
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