How Sugar Impacts Kids

What does sugar do to kids? The effects are threefold and involve three inter-dependent aspects of their brains and bodies: blood sugar, and serotonin and beta-endorphin levels.

When we eat carbohydrates, such as sugars and starches, our blood sugar rises and our bodies release insulin. Insulin then helps to fuel the body. But for children who are sugar sensitive, this careful balance of food and fuel is disrupted. Blood sugar rises more quickly and reaches higher levels than normal. As result, a greater amount of insulin is released, and sugar is absorbed more quickly into our cells. This creates that "sugar high" we've all felt. And it subsequently creates that nasty crash—defined by feelings of exhaustion, spaciness, and irritability.

An important brain chemical affected by sugar is serotonin. "Serotonin is a chemical that quiets the brain," writes DesMaisons. It is what makes us all have that feeling of well-being and peacefulness. When a child has low serotonin levels, she feels out of control, depressed, and overwhelmed. "Sugar sensitive children have lower levels of serotonin than other children," adds DesMaisons. By changing diet, these beneficial levels can be raised, creating more self-confident, in-control children with a much happier outlook on themselves and the world around them.

Beta-endorphins, another brain chemical affected by sugar, are what DesMaisons calls, "the brain's own pain killer." Children who are sugar sensitive are much more sensitive towards both physical and emotional pain. Trips to the dentist are far more traumatic, and feelings are hurt far more easily than in children who eat less sugar. But even more importantly, beta-endorphins are strongly associated with self-esteem. Children with normal beta-endorphin levels feel confident and secure. However, children who eat too much sugar, which heightens these levels, then "feel inadequate and unworthy, even if they are smart," once the sugar wears off, writes DesMaisons.