A lot of parents will say that their children get hyper after they eat sweets.
It's a common belief that if a child has eaten some sweets or drinking a fizzy drink that they will be bouncing off the walls with excitement. It's a lie we were all fooled to believe as kids and the reason we missed out on the sweet treats.
But, it turns out that they can't get a so-called "sugar rush". Dr. Mark Wolraich, chief of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics at Oklahoma University Health Sciences Center told
Live Science, "Sugar does not appear to affect behavior in children."
Instead, he says that it's about the situations they're in when they are having the sweets. Children are usually allowed to overindulge in sweets on specific occasions, like a party or at Halloween. They get very excited and end up becoming very hyper. Dr. Wolraich believes that it's the parties or the events themselves which make children become wired.
The misconceived idea about sugar affecting how you act centres around people's blood sugar levels and how they can increase. Some people believe that sugar, which raises your blood sugar levels, can result in hyperactive behaviour.
While it's true that someone suffering with low blood-sugar levels can get energy from sugar that's a separate issue altogether. It's completely different if someone has sugar that doesn't have low blood sugar levels.
If you don't need it for energy then your body will just convert it into fat.
Wolraich added, "The body will normally regulate those sugars. If it needs it, it will use the energy. If it doesn't need it, it will convert it to fat for storage."
So basically we're all just a bit hyper when we're having a good time.
