Effect of sucrose on hyperkinetic children.

A hyperkinetic boy and his mother were found, by blind tests, to be hypersensitive to sucrose, with manifestations of irritability, hyperactivity, and headache. Neither glucose, lactose, or saccharin produced any behavioral changes. To ascertain whether this was common in those with hypersensitivity to sucrose, 50 hyperkinetic children, whose mothers had volunteered that they "knew" or were "sure" that their hyperactivity and general behavior were much worse when they had eaten foods containing sugar (sucrose), were tested in a blind experiment with a challenge dose of a glass of lemonade containing 75 g of sucrose compared with lemonade sweetened with saccharin; this was done three times. No differences could be found in their behavior after ingesting sucrose compared with saccharin. Hypersensitivity to sucrose can lead to adverse behavioral changes, but this hypersensitivity appears to be an uncommon condition. If suspected it can be tested for very simply.