Candy Crash

Sugar RUSH or sugar CRUSH?

This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.

Sweet treats… A guilty pleasure! Sure, they’re bad for our health. But donuts, candies and sodas can definitely lift our spirits! Or can they?!

Konstantinos Mantantzis from Humboldt University of Berlin wondered. He and colleagues scoured through over thirty scientific papers on sugar consumption. The researchers examined how sugar made people feel. Alert? Fatigued? Calm, confused, ANGRY?

Their sweet findings? Turns out, sugar DOES NOT improve people’s mood! Quite the opposite! Folks feel MORE SLUGGISH and LESS ALERT through the first hour after eating sugary treats. Sugar rush? Just a myth! But sugar CRASH? Totally real!

Maybe you’re one of those people who reaches for a candy bar when you feel blue. But Mantantzis and his team say that might actually make you feel WORSE! They hope their findings will encourage more of us to choose healthier snacks.

That’s pretty SWEET of them! Thanks, guys…..I’ll think about it.