# INSULIN high , sugar high and runners high **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [February 13, 2008, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insulin-high-sugar-high-and-runners-high/437531 "2008-02-13T22:41:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2008, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insulin-high-sugar-high-and-runners-high/437531/21 "2008-02-15T23:05:07Z")
Just this week on Good Morning America they were talking about a study that seems to indicate that zero calorie sweeteners may contribute to weight gain. The theory is that eating something sweet (whether sugar or a substitute) makes the body think it’s taking in calories [“and certain physiological responses kick in.”](http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=05f155e4-18d4-49c7-b93f-ee2e16e225ac&k=3814) The study was done on rats so take it as you may. While this doesn’t directly support the “sugar high” theory, it would bring into question the methods used in the JAMA studies cited by Cecil. In other words, the kids in the sugar group would be act the same as those in the artifical sweetner group because all the kids’ bodies were reacting to consuming something sweet. And while millions of anecdotes may not prove anything, I can certainly say for myself that I feel differently after consuming a food or drink high in sugar. I don’t eat sweets or drink soda very often so maybe the effect is more noticable for me. **bufftabby** , you’re not a 5 year old so I doubt hyperactivity would be the result of your high. ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insulin-high-sugar-high-and-runners-high/437531/22 "2008-02-16T02:00:53Z")
Many parents want their children to be as smart as possible. What they should actually be doing is [feeding them energy drinks](http://www.springerlink.com/content/hh6mllfq03fycq9p/). The combination of caffeine and glucose provides cognitive benefits not found in either alone. ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insulin-high-sugar-high-and-runners-high/437531/23 "2008-02-16T02:03:26Z")
There is no tongue in cheek smiley, AFAICT. My sarcasm has been known to be overly dry, FWIW 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bufftabby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@bufftabby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bufftabby)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insulin-high-sugar-high-and-runners-high/437531/24 "2008-02-16T02:16:45Z")
[QUOTE=SmellMyWort] **bufftabby** , you’re not a 5 year old so I doubt hyperactivity would be the result of your high. [/QUOTE] Yeah, I doubt it too, since that’s not the result. It’s more like hypoactivity. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insulin-high-sugar-high-and-runners-high/437531/25 "2008-02-16T04:54:10Z")
_Warning anecdotish information, read with extreme caution_ I have a friend whose small, about two years younger than me (these frist two are not correlated, she’s even small for her age) and incredibly “hyperactive” when exposed to sugar. I put hyperactive in quotes because she only is really hyper if someone actively makes a statement. The key phrase is along the lines of (jokingly) “Oh shit! \ had sugar, hit the deck!” It’ll also occus if she’s actively scannign what she’s eating and realizes its sugary. If shes not paying attention you don’t really see a change (unless of course it’s something like chocolate or certain sodas that have caffeine), which leads us (including her) that its really the power of SUGGESTION rather than the power of SUGAR making her crazy. Now does this nescessarily correspond to kids, or even every person without a disorder? No. Is it data? yes. Is it reliable? Depends on your definition of “reliable”. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Colossus27](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Colossus27](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colossus27)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insulin-high-sugar-high-and-runners-high/437531/26 "2008-02-16T18:33:14Z")
[QUOTE=SmellMyWort] Just this week on Good Morning America they were talking about a study that seems to indicate that zero calorie sweeteners may contribute to weight gain. The theory is that eating something sweet (whether sugar or a substitute) makes the body think it’s taking in calories [“and certain physiological responses kick in.”](http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=05f155e4-18d4-49c7-b93f-ee2e16e225ac&k=3814) [/QUOTE] Well. There’s a lot of questions this article raises. First, why are psychologists reporting on a study involving diet and metabolism? Secondly- and I suspect the real issue here- if the diet drinks are zero calories, where does the ‘fat’ come from? Were the rats fed (and did they consume) identical diets? How is it possible that “consuming a food sweetened with no-calorie saccharin can lead to greater body-weight gain and adiposity than would consuming the same food sweetened with a high-calorie sugar”? Doesn’t this somehow mean the rat’s bodies were willing themselves to violate basic laws of thermodynamics? This has nothing to do w/metabolism- they replaced a zero-calorie food w/a high-calorie substitute. You cannot create something out of nothing. How about going on a ‘diet soda only’ diet for a week- let’s see who gains weight in the process? I’m willing to give it a try…of course, I won’t end up on some idiotic morning show, will I? ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insulin-high-sugar-high-and-runners-high/437531/27 "2008-02-16T19:25:03Z")
[QUOTE=Colossus27] Secondly- and I suspect the real issue here- if the diet drinks are zero calories, where does the ‘fat’ come from? Were the rats fed (and did they consume) identical diets? How is it possible that “consuming a food sweetened with no-calorie saccharin can lead to greater body-weight gain and adiposity than would consuming the same food sweetened with a high-calorie sugar”? [/QUOTE] Read the whole article closely, notably the paragraphs below. > [@](#): > > “They’re actually getting fewer calories from the yogurt than the other animals, but they’re eating extra chow, they’re eating more,” Swithers said. > > The researchers measured changes in core body temperature. When we eat a meal body temperature increases as metabolism “revs us,” according to a background release issued with today’s study. But the rats fed artificially-sweetened yogurt didn’t show as big an increase in core body temperature. > > “It looks like the other reason the other animals might have gained the extra weight may be because they’re not burning up as many calories,” Swithers said. > > One theory is that, when we eat something sweet, the body thinks it’s about to take in calories and certain physiological responses kick in. But if there aren’t a lot of calories, the system gets confused. The result? People may eat more, or burn fewer calories than they otherwise would have. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2008, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insulin-high-sugar-high-and-runners-high/437531/28 "2008-02-16T21:35:17Z")
I have taken electrolyte salts in water and I can say it has worked as well or better then sugar sports drinks, but tastes bad. I think the sugar in those drinks are to help the taste much more then energy requirements, as most people have great amounts of stored energy in fat, when in such intense workout the body switches to this fuel over glucose, so that energy from the drinks is not really needed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insulin-high-sugar-high-and-runners-high/437531.md?page=1)