Sugar, no matter what name it goes by…fructose, sucrose, dextrose…Americans of all ages love it. In fact, the average American consumes roughly 22 tablespoons of sugar every single day.
Sodas and other sugary drinks are too much a part of our diets, and they are responsible for a lot of our sugar intake. But drinks are only a part of the problem.
This past week, the World Health Organization (WHO) began advising we reduce the daily recommended allowance of sugar by half in order to combat obesity and tooth decay.
Since 2002 that recommended allowance has been 12 teaspoons, and now the WHO is suggesting that be lowered to about six teaspoons of sugar a day with the caveat that “consumers’ health would benefit if they cut sugar levels down to 5 percent.”
Let’s recap: we consume 22 tablespoons of sugar daily, but should aim for 6 teaspoons. That’s a whopping difference of 60 teaspoons of sugar, considering there are three teaspoons to a tablespoon.
Our Love Affair with Sugar
Unfortunately, in order to watch your sugar intake, you must read the label of everything you consume. Even seemingly innocent foods are loaded with “added sugars.” It seems food manufacturers add sugar (by lots of names) to most of what we consume.
Here are some examples of sugar content in foods that are likely in your refrigerator:
| Product | Amount | #of Calories |
| Ketchup | 1 tablespoon | 4 grams of sugar |
| BBQ Sauce | 1 tablespoons | 13 grams of sugar |
| Honey Nut Cheerios | ½ cup | 9 grams of sugar |
The WHO now suggests calorie intake be no more than 10% from sugars, and are recommending the number be more like 5%. According to the WHO, 5% is ideal but 10% is more realistic.
For example, an average adult who consumes 2000 calories per day should only be getting 200 of those calories from sugar, which is 50 grams. And an ideal adult would only consume 5%, which is 25 grams.
If your intake is 1000 calories, ideally, you should limit sugar to 12 grams, but realistically more around 25 grams.
What is the problem with sugar?
Our bodies need sugar, but like anything else, too much of it can be harmful. Besides adding a few pounds, chronic high sugar levels can lead to elevated insulin levels, and an excess amount appears to be a factor in the development of heart disease and even cancer.
People who consume more than 25% of their daily intake as some type of sugar are 3 times more likely to die of heart disease than if the percentage was 10%.
Watch for hidden sugars by reading labels. Eat fruit instead of drinking juice. Pay attention to what you consume as much as possible. It’s likely you need to make a few nutrition changes.
When one can of soda has a huge amount of sugar—1 can of Pepsi has 41 grams of sugar—you can blow your daily intake in one fail swoop. Evan a small Starbucks vanilla latte has 27 grams of sugar. Don’t start your days off with consuming all of your sugar allowance in your first meal—or drink!
Watching your sugar intake is one of the simplest preventive health measures (https://www.allaboutwomenmd.com/preventive-care-services.html) you can take. To learn about this and other issues specific to women’s health, continue browsing our blog, knowledge center, or contact us to schedule an appointment today!
