Reaction to sugary candy -- Am I imagining this?

[phoebemommy]

So we try to limit sugar at our house, especially with refined sugar and HFCS. Anything I buy has evaporated cane juice in it, unless it's a baked good from the deli or somewhere (baked on site, rarely packaged). But of course, around holidays, the crappy candy sneaks in and we have a huge pile of it right now, and I'm trying not to be a big meanie and letting my 3.5 yo ds have a little candy each day, if he asks for it. Today I noticed, right after he had some gobstoppers, his face went all gaunt, with dark circles under his eyes, and he seemed kind of tired for twenty minutes or so. I've noticed this look about him a couple times before, which is noteworthy, because he's usually a very healthy looking kid, but today was the first time I noticed the proximity to eating candy.

Am I imagining this? What is it? Besides a good excuse to accelerate my strategic throwing away of a little candy here and there while the kid isn't looking...

[myjo]

I don't know if the the look was associated with the candy, but I know my kids react to candy almost immediately.

[Drummer's Wife]

It might not have been b/c of the sugar, but maybe the artifical colors? Often kids react to dyes such as Red 40. It could have been the sugar, too. Hard to say.