Myth check · 60 s
The sugar rush myth
The sugar rush, tested blind.
You’d think. One slice of birthday cake, and twenty minutes later a seven-year-old is doing laps around the couch.
Actually. When JAMA pooled sixteen double-blind studies in 1995, sugar didn’t change behavior or thinking.
The twist. In Kentucky, every boy got a sugar-free drink. Half the moms were told it was full of sugar, and those moms rated their sons as more hyperactive.
How sure? The key studies are from the 1990s, and averages could hide a few kids who react. This is about behavior, not a health tip.
Sources
What the video says
Every parent blames the cake. Decades of experiments say the cake is innocent.
One slice of birthday cake, and twenty minutes later a seven-year-old is doing laps around the couch.
Scientists tested it blind. Some kids got sugar, others a sweetener that tastes the same, and nobody knew which. When JAMA pooled sixteen of these studies in 1995, sugar didn't change behavior or thinking.
Another team picked kids their parents called sugar sensitive and put whole families on high-sugar or sweetened diets, three weeks at a time. Their behavior didn't change.
The best study comes from Kentucky in 1994. Every boy got a sugar-free drink. Half the moms were told it was full of sugar, and those moms rated their sons as more hyperactive.
Kids really do get wild at parties. Blaming the sugar is just the easiest explanation we have.
So next birthday, go ahead and let the cake off the hook.