sugar increases tics
 

hi all-
my 22 year old has become a good judge of what causes his tics. He says dairy, but even moreso, sugar. therefore, he has not sweets at all. Honestly, i feel a bit sorry for him.
My question: Anyone else here have more tics with sugar? Also, any idea why this may be? Or anyone to consult who might hypothesize? thanks--limpia

Hi Limpia

my son doesnt have a problem with sugar and increased tics as long as it is pure turbinado sugar (we dont use refined sugars at all)
he doesnt eat a lot of sugar tho and so I am not sure if he would have increased tics if he did

he is also fine with honey and maple syrup

artificial sweeteners like nutrasweet/aspartame or splenda/sucralose are tic triggers for him

hi- i hope others write in and specify if they react only to refined sugar etc.

Question- what happens in his body, do u think, that leads to his tics when he eats refined sugar? in your son's case?

Hi Limpia

sorry, I should have been more clear...as my son does not eat refined sugars I honestly dont know what would trigger tic reactions from those. We have used turbinado sugar now for many years. I buy it at our local Publix supermarket

I do think that the chlorine in splenda is likely the trigger and aspartame is known to have detrimental effects on the CNs, hence his reaction to Nutrasweet

Refined sugars
 

I'm new to this board, but have been on the latitudes board. We recently found out through a homeopath that our son was allergic to sugar. Being that sugar is in just about everything in one form or another, we started a little hunt for options. We have found that he does fine with organic cane juice, evaporated or liquid. He's also ok with honey and maple syrup. We have discovered that it seems to be mainly refined sugars that make him worse. Now, we haven't seen much difference in the tics, but it has helped his behavior and concentration.

We're still on the hunt for the trigger on the tics. Believe it or not, I'm leaning towards sodium. This is partly due to the fact that I'm sulfite intolerant.

Corn products such as starch, syrup, fructose, etc. all seem to bother him too.

hi- thanks for responding re sugar. I wonder, which allergy test was it? skin, blood, which specific one? thanks-- i had been thinkingthat perhaps it may even be sucrose intolerance which re the lack of an enzyme to digest the sugar.