As many of you who
work with me or read my books know, I read the nutrition research every month
in an effort to stay on top of any important new studies. Occasionally, I come
across a study that seems so important that I need to write a Feature Article
on it. That happened just recently (Reference 1).
The Study
In this fascinating study, 4,245 Australian school children between the
ages of 8 and 15 years had their sugar sweetened beverage consumption measured.
The researchers also had access to the student’s academic standardized testing
scores.
When comparing the students who consumed less than 1 glass of sugar
sweetened beverage per day to those consuming 4-6 glasses:
-Grammar scores were 6% higher
-Reading scores were 9% higher
-Writing scores were 6% higher
-Math scores were 7% higher
Conclusions And Recommendations
This is a very powerful study that demonstrates some of the hidden
dangers of eating high glycemic carbs, such as sugar. Most parents think of
sugar as nutritionally empty calories. If their kids are at a healthy weight
and are eating well for the most part, adding a whole bunch of sugar each day
is not considered a big deal.
It kind of is a big deal. The health risks of sugar have been shown in
the research literature over the past few decades. Sugar consumption has been
associated with obesity, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and certain cancers. Emerging
evidence shows it can even impact how your brain works.
So, why would consuming a lot of sugar impact your academic performance? There
are several possible mechanisms:
-High sugar consumption often causes a reactive hypoglycemia which results
in low blood sugar after a few hours. Low blood sugar can negatively impact
energy levels, which may make it harder to pay attention in class and perform
on exams.
-Swings in blood sugar can also impact mood. If you are feeling anxious
or depressed, it is much harder to pay attention and perform well in school.
-In this paper the authors theorize that sugar may actually have a
negative impact on cognitive function. They propose that a high sugar
consumption may cause cognitive dysfunction through hippocampal and frontal
lobe volume loss and dysfunction.
It is a good idea to limit sugar consumption in your children for lots of
reasons. We can add academic performance to the list. I also don’t think that
this is limited to children. I would argue that work performance in adults is
similarly affected. The recommendation is simple: Strictly limit sugar. Better
yet, give it up entirely. This is certainly not easy to do at first but it will
change your life and your health.
References
1) Burrows T et al, Association between selected dietary behaviors and
academic achievement. A study of Australian school aged children. Appetite
2017; 116:372-80.
