How the ADHD Brain Processes Sugar Differently
There is the old belief that all hyperactivity comes from giving your child too many sweets. While some research does claim that chronic sugar, or glucose, intake is “the cause” of ADHD, in my experience it plays a more nuanced role.1
Glucose powers every cell in the body. Different parts of our body use different amounts of this fuel at different rates. The brain, by weight, is 2% of the body, but it uses 20% of the body’s available glucose.2
However, sometimes the glucose in the brain doesn’t get processed the way it should. This can lead to many problems, especially when ADHD is involved.
For children who have ADHD, glucose can cause a few problems once it reaches their brain. It may not be metabolized properly, or it can cause imbalances in brain chemicals. The following studies help demonstrate this.
A team of scientists in the Child Psychiatry Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health conducted a study on 75 adults, trying to find a biochemical cause for ADHD.3 Twenty-five had suffered from ADHD since childhood, and the fifty others had never had ADHD at all. They were all similar in age, IQ, income, and education.
