• Question: Why does sugar make you hyper?

    Asked by piman to Asif, Laura, Lena, Sean on 21 Mar 2012.
    • Photo: Sean Murphy

      Sean Murphy answered on 21 Mar 2012:

      Sugar is a carbohydrate, There are different form of carbohydrates. Sugar is a simple carbohydrate. We need carbohydrates because they give us energy. In short, carbohydrates give is energy.

      We get energy from foods such as rice and pasta, potatoes etc. the reason for this is, in simple terms, the body turn starch into sugar. When athletes etc eat pasta they are doing it to produce sugar and therefore energy. This source of energy is slow releasing so does not, in general but can, cause energy spikes.

      However, normally active people will burn this energy without having a spike so it is down to general behaviour. See comments below for more info.

    • Photo: Lena Ciric

      Lena Ciric answered on 21 Mar 2012:

      As Sean says, complex carbohydrates (like rice, pasta, bread and potatoes) have to be broken down into sugars by your body. This process takes time, so the release of sugar into your system is relatively slow – no hyperness. When you have sugar (in it’s simple form), this is swiftly followed by a spike of it in your blood. It can make you feel energetic and sometimes nervous – hyperness. Beware the low that follows the high, though…

    • Photo: Laura Waters

      Laura Waters answered on 21 Mar 2012:

      An interesting study gave a group of kids sugar free food but told them it was full of sugar and they all said afterwards they got a sugar rush!

Comments

  • Photo: ogoldfinch09

    ogoldfinch09 commented on :

    Sugar does not actually make people hyperactive. The myth of this caused a psychological effect where parents convinced their children that sugar causes hyperactivity and so when the child consumes sugar they subconsciously tell themselves that they should act hyperactive and so they do. You will notice that adults do not go hyperactive when they consume sugar but they will when they consume caffeine and many products targeted at children include caffeine to make them addictive, studies have shown that it is this caffeine not sugar that makes people hyperactive.