No such thing as a "sugar rush"

[KickHimInTheCrotch]

My DS (10) just told me that a number of his friends claim to be having a "sugar rush" after eating sweets/chocolate etc and run about being "hyper". I've never believed in the concept of a sugar rush and so have never suggested to my DC that it would have this effect on them. I know other parents that strongly believe in it and attribute certain behaviour in younger children is due to sugar and limit their DCs sugar intake for this reason. Presumably the DC are then behaving in the expected way by being "hyper".

I've just had a quick Google and can see that there are plenty of articles that support my POV although not necessarily conclusive on scientific grounds.

Obviously I limit my DCs sugar intake for health reasons including obesity and dental health but behaviour just isn't a factor for me.

AIBU to tell my DC that there's no such thing as a sugar rush. Do you have experience of sugar conclusively affecting behaviour in children?

@Disturbia81are you sure this isn’t caffeine rather than sugar?

No I don’t drink it. I definitely feel it but know it technically might not be sugar and might be sweeteners and chemicals.

When my DS was a toddler, he went to a party where there were unlimited sweets and he took full advantage. By the end he shaking from the amount of sugar he'd consumed, and I hadn't actually thought it was that much. Perhaps some children are more sensitive to it than others, especially if they generally don't get much day to day.

Years ago before they changed smarties. My son couldn't eat them he was a calm quiet child still is as an adult but he would become loud and hyper active after eating them.

Those children sound as though they are using it as an excuse for a happy half hour. But if you have ever had a dog that does zoomies after every meal you might wonder if there is some link between eating (not just sugar) and immediate energy levels.
Therd are some articles that strongly indicate that people with ADD crave sugar because they have low dopamine, the sugar does not give them a rush as such but the increase in dopamine may make them feel more energetic.
My kids told me they had sugar rush. Simple, no sugar for you then😂Funny that then they decided it must have been a one off! I did limit sugar god weight and teeth readings. I can’t see an issue in telling your child

I’m sure I saw this tested on supernanny or something similar and it was proved to be rubbish.
I never saw any evidence of it with my son.

@ShallIstart

i was just going to mention adhd when your post came up. I definitely see sugar impacting my adhd dd but never had that with my non-adhd child

Yeah, I used to think this too. Until I had my eldest kid. He becomes an absolute fruit loop with the slightest hint of sugar. Has no affect on my other kid.

I've always been sceptical about this. I know quite a few people who claim that this happens when they eat something sweet but I've never experienced it myself. I try not to eat sweet stuff very often (weight issues),maybe once a week. You'd think that because I don't consume sugar frequently I would notice an effect. But no, nothing!

As a healthy non-diabetic woman, I have always experienced sugar rushes which usually involve my heart rate increasing and struggling to sleep at night. Sometimes it can make me feel nauseous and sweaty and dizzy if I’ve eaten something very sugary. With me, I don’t really eat sweets, I prefer chocolate and other sweet treats so it’s not artificial colours or flavours though maybe caffeine. My DS is being assessed for ADHD and I definitely notice an increase in poor behaviour when he’s had too much sugar - it’s generally limited and rationed because of this. Sugar rushes might not be a thing with everyone but it is a thing with some people.

Many foods and drinks definitely affect your feelings and behaviour - that's the reason people drink alcohol and take other drugs. Coffee wakes people up and I love my one mug of it in the morning before I've had any breakfast. It's not even special coffee, just an instant brand I like, but I savour that coffee and then don't have another one until the next morning. IThere's no point having a second mug because it's never the same effect. So it doesn't surprise me that sugar, whether obvious or hidden, has an effect. I love sweets like Haribo; wine gums; jelly snakes; blackjacks, fruit salads and Chewits but I can't eat many of them, not because I run round the room showing my knickers to the boys but because I have to sit quietly until the whizziness in my head goes off. The same thing happens if I eat a full English breakfast which is because I'm not used to the high sugar or carb content - whatever it is. I love it but have to sit still for about 10 minutes and hope no one notices.Certain types of cheese like Roquefort make me break out in a sweat but I love them so I just eat them slowly.

It’s real, although possibly caffeine instead of sugar for fizzy drinks

It’s definitely a thing for some, my children didn’t get it but my sister and niece definitely did

I agree with you op. I formed the same opinion 20 years ago when coincidentally it always seemed to be the parents of the annoying feral kids that made this claim.

Bullshit. But so much easier than actually telling their kids to calm down and sounds sciency. Win-win for crap parents.

Most definitely a thing for me. I need sugar as a pick me up in the afternoon, for example. It has a similar effect to coffee for me but much more short lived.

YANBU, I have much younger sisters plus 3 kids of my own and I've never seen any change in behaviour in any of them after eating sugar.

My DC aren't affected by a sugar rush. My sister's dc really do, give them a few chocolate buttons and you can visibly see them perk up and start to get giddy.

I've seen it with Coke..

I remember the first time my son had a san pelligrino. He was about 5 and it was like he’d dropped a bomb of speed. Fast forward 5 years and he was diagnosed ADHD and is medicated. Sugar really affects him. Doesn’t affect my other son in the slightest. If I have too much chocolate or sweets in one sitting I can feel my heart rate increase and it surge round my body a bit like adrenaline.

Hmmm, I've definitely seen a "manic" side of my child when having particularly sugary treat. But actually it's hardly noticeable 99% of the time.

Those of you pointing out that you're not diabetic - if you were, and you didn't give yourself enough insulin for the food, you'd experience lethargy, thirst, headaches - nothing like a "sugar rush" in fact.

My son has Type 1 diabetes and has worn a blood sugar monitor with a nice graph since he was 6. I have learnt that human body is very very good at turning anything you eat into sugar (=energy). An apple, a peanut butter sandwich on wholemeal bread and a glass of milk? The equivalent of 12 spoons of sugar, hitting the bloodstream in about 20 minutes' time. Swap the peanut butter for ham and the wholemeal bread for some nice fresh baguette and that sugar is arriving after ten minutes and oh my word spiking high. Bacon omelette and no carbs at all? Oh you can turn that into glucose too.

If you don't get a sugar rush from a sandwich don't expect to get one from cake either. And chocolate contains fat, so the sugar lands more slowly than from sweets (or from baguette, which we can use to treat hypos round here).

I'd assume that it's not an actual 'sugar rush' in these kids - it's someone having heard the term and then using it to hype each other up and muck about.

I remember being at school and eating some fruit salad at school dinner time. We all said that the salad tasted of alcohol (it had probably just been sitting around for a while) and thereafter everyone started acting 'drunk'. Cue lots of stupid random giggling, tripping over, various behaviours that we, as 12 year old girls, associated with 'being drunk.'

We weren't It was suggestion and kids being daft, which is what I would suppose is at work here.

I wonder if it is to do with what they've eaten prior to the chocolate. So let's say they had chocolate on an empty stomach,but your kids had it after a cheese toastie or something.

I get a sugar crash about an hour or so after a sugary treat. If I then eat more sugar to make my self feel better it does sort of pick me up again pretty quickly. But then its a vicious cycle.

I try to eat in a way that keeps my blood sugar stable these days

Some people don’t react to food like others do, I know a few people who have coffee and it does nothing for them, they can drink it just before bed too.
But sweets definitely affect me, it feels like adrenaline like another poster said