To think that caffeine & sugar are drugs?

well, I voted YABU because you are! as I said, no one is ever taught that caffeine isn't a drug? It comes up in KS2. KS3 and KS4 - so what exactly is your issue?

And of course sugar isn't

I cut out alcohol and caffeine in the few year. It’s been far more difficult giving up my morning coffee and it took several attempts whereas the booze was pretty easy to drop. The withdrawal headaches were indescribably painful. I now have one cup of decaf per day and this seems to be my sweet spot. Since quitting I’ve noticed a huge improvement in my moods and my peri-menopause symptoms so it’s been worth it.

Children are taught this in school.
They are taught the differences between legal, illegal, medicinal and recreational drugs.

I don't get why you don't see this is completely the norm anyway? Caffeine is a drug, children are taught it is a drug, what exactly is your issue?

Sugar is not a drug, it is harmful in excess, children are taught so, what is your issue here?

Not worried about either in the way I worry about all the artificial crap and sweeteners in most food especially the so called healthy options these days. My kids drink tea with sugar but not often and tbh I will always give them sugar rather than sweetener, butter rather than spreads etc.

Caffeine is a drug, but doesn't have the social and personal impacts of "drugs" like heroin, canabis or cocaine. Most people consume it moderately with few ill effects and it tends to occur naturally in foods. Some forms such as green tea or freshly ground coffee are considered beneficial to health. Healthy adults rarely cause themselves harm with regular levels of consumption.

Sugar is a food not a drug. Our bodies break foods down into sugars to survive. Eating excessive quantites and too many heavy processed forms of it can cause harm. Artificial sweetners are not consequence free either.

Many things can be addictive without being drugs. Even exercise can be addictive and exercise addicts can cause themselves physical harm when they overload their body and don't rest to recover over a prolonged period. It's common for exercise addicts to have disordered eating patterns too.

I talk to my children about nutrition and healthy lifestyles. I don't demonise individual foods, I go for a more holistic approach of looking if their diet is balanced between plants, proteins and different forms of carbs.

Framing sugar as a drug is not helpful at promoting realistic, healthy levels of moderation and caffeine isn't a major problem or something little known about.

@Bringbackthebeaver our bodies can break down protein into glucose, which is how people survive on these diets.
I'm not encouraging this or a fan of it but it seems we can survive without consuming sugary foods.

Your body needs sugar. It needs glucose and carbohydrates to function. This is very basic biology and I'm a bit concerned at the people on this thread claiming we don't need sugar.

We don't specifically need "added sugar" or UPFs.

But sugar is a requirement of your body. You can't live without it.

So you would teach a child that sugar is a "substance" in the same way as nicotine, cocaine or heroin?

You don't think that might cause any kind of confusion?

Of course you need to teach your child about sensible diets and yes, sugar can be addictive and habit forming. I agree.

But it's not a "substance" or a "drug". It's something to be aware of and cautious about, in the same way as food additives and UPFs.

Teaching children that basic, everyday foods containing sugar or caffeine are in the same league as harmful drugs is likely to increase the risk of eating disorders and anxiety.

Teach them to be sensible, not to be paranoid and anxious.

I'm not sure we need sugar (I'm not talking about any small amount of naturally occurring sugars). We enjoy sugar and I suppose we're programmed to recognise sweet natural taste being safe and bitter tastes being harmful.
There are people thriving on keto diets and many on carnivore diets, which seems to consist of mainly meat and butter with some salt.
It doesn't sound enjoyable but people are certainly surviving.

Of course our bodies need sugar. Carbohydrates are our primary source of energy. Glucose is essential to the function of the central nervous system.

OP didn't specify they were talking about added sugar. Sugar is not a drug.

There do seem to be a lot of joyless types on MN.

Sugar is something which i do caution my children that too much can damage teeth etc.

I don't like making foodstuffs "forbidden". Friends i know tried to ban all sweet stuff - those are the kids who desperately take more than their share at parties. One who's mum is especially strict stole and ate a load of christmas sweets from a cupboard at house on a playdate, after my kids had already offered some.

Sugar is not a drug.

We need it. Our brains require it. We have evolved to seek it out and enjoy it because getting enough of it increased our likelihood of survival as a species for thousands of years.

Caffeine i do explain to my children (in an age appropriate way) is something which we need to monitor and not have too much of. My children know i only have one drink containing caffeine, in the morning, then i only have decaffeinated coffee etc if at all later on.

caffeine is a drug, sugar isn't.

Caffeine is a drug yes though I don’t know if it’s addictive (I mean if it was I’d know about it) Sugar causes cravings but I don’t know if that makes it a drug. Alcohol on the other hand…

Since I’ve only started drinking decaf, my mood is consistently better; my IBS has calmed, and I sleep like a log. Been off caffeine for two years now, and I’m never going back.

Processed sugar IS addictive.

I should know. I've tried giving it up and get horrific withdrawal symptoms

It's like my brain is constantly nagging me for it until I have it

It's awful and has taken a lot of hard, tedious work to get under control

No one said it was

It gives a basic summary of what is being discussed. The key point is whilst caffeine isn't formally listed as an addiction, some people struggle to give the drug up, they have withdrawal symptoms, they have negative physical and mental symptoms from consuming the drug.

I think this is key here. Anything we consume could have an effect on our bodies and brain and yes caffeine and sugar probably more then other food stuffs but I think it should be in that context rather then lumping them in with illegal or dangerous drugs (like alcohol).

Sugar and caffeine are only 'harmful' to the consumer unlike others which is why they are treated differently. I think the only way to reduce them is to normalise that in society but we are pretty hedonistic as a species really and that's the thing to get over.

Why stop with sugar and caffeine? We should ban everything, just be to on the safe side.

Of course we should teach children about nutrition and well-being. Including by advising (and demonstrating) moderation in consuming caffeine and sugar and explaining why that's important. And by sugar I mean both naturally occurring sugars and refined/added sugars.