There's a common belief that sugar causes
hyperactivity, especially in kids. But is this true?
If you didn't already know sugar, or
sucrose, is a disaccharide commonly used as a sweetener in cooking. Sugar
affects the body in a number of different ways, such as accelerating toot decay
and contributing to obesity. Sugar is also accused for inducing a hyperactive
behaviour if consumed in too large amounts, but unlike tooth decay and obesity
there's no evidence to support this claim. There's actually a study that
suggest that the phenomenon is purely a placebo.
In this study 35 boys between the ages five
to seven, (The children were claimed by their mothers to be easily affected by
sugar.) and their mothers were divided into two groups: One control group and
one experimental group. The mothers in the control group where told their
children had received a placebo: Aspartame. The mothers in the experimental
group were told their children had been given a large dose of sugar. In reality
all children had been given the placebo, aspartame. The test subjects were
videotaped and the mothers were later questioned about their experience of
their children’s behaviour. The mothers in the experimental group rated their
children as significantly more active than they usually were.
This study implies that there's no causation
between sugar consumption and hyperactivity, however, further studies need to
be conducted in order for a conclusion to be drawn.
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