Sugar and my son

[StormySar]

I have a 4 year old son who has a horrible reaction any time he has a sugary treat. As soon as he has it, it's as if his world turns upside down and it lasts seemingly all day..

He becomes very hyperactive, easily frusterated, very aggressive and sometimes violent, very loud, can't play well with his siblings without fighting that can escalate into hitting, and if sugar is given to him any time after say 3pm or so, he won't go to sleep until midnight. He is normally pretty active but never, ever this aggressive or violent or so unhappy.

I've kept sugar treats at a rare treat our whole lives because I don't feel they're good for our children. But at every family gathering sugar treats are available, on birthdays we do celebrate with cake, and with the holiday season upon us, most festivities will involve a cookie table. My husband also thinks I deprive the kids of sugary things too much and will let them take a bite of a cookie or a treat of his, and even something as small as a bite has these negative results.

I feel like I'm depriving him if I never let him have sweets, but on the other hand I just can't reason giving him something that is going to in the end make him so unhappy, difficult, and mean to the rest of us.

What could this be caused by? My other children can tolerate sugar -sure they get hyperactive but nothing like this.

Would switching to something like honey have the same behavioral effect? What kinds of cookies or 'treats' could I bake that don't involve sugar?

[dogmom327]

You might have him tested for food sensitivities and allergies (a naturopath is wonderful for this). Our children have food sensitivities to sugar, gluten and dairy. For simplicity I call them allergies so our family understands I'm very serious about our children having none. It would be very hard to have a spouse who isn't on board but perhaps a naturopath could meet with both of you and explain to your husband how damaging sugar is to your childrens' systems?

I make treats with raw honey and every great once in awhile maple syrup. We constantly have cookies or some other treat around made with almond flour and honey. DS doesn't even care because it's always available it's not forbidden. I'm happy because almond flour and honey is a perfectly healthy thing for him to eat. That works for us but it would be something to ask the naturopath about.

[lil_earthmomma]

My son also seems to turn into a monster after consuming "treats". I've found that HFCS (in most candies, juice and processed cakes/cookies etc.) is the worst, and natural sweeteners like honey and maple syrup have little effect on him. The other day I was baking and he dipped his whole hand in the honey jar and proceeded to lick it off and I was thinking "Uh oh..." but nothing happened!

So I would trial honey, as it works really well in baking etc and has many health benefit as well. (raw, local honey if possible.)

[StormySar]

What about Stevia or Truvia? Agave nectar?

I am trying honey - can it sub sugar in the same quantity or is there some conversion that needs to be done? also, anything I can sub in place of brown sugar?

I've also had someone tell me their son acted the same way and needed more protein. In what ways could I bulk up his protein?