Americans consume, on average, 17 teaspoons of added sugar every day, putting us in excess of the daily limits suggested by the American Heart Association, which recommends:
- No more than 6 teaspoons per day for women and kids
- Up to 9 teaspoons per day for men
Going above these limits has been linked to numerous health problems, including heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, mood disorders (like depression), weight problems, certain forms of cancer, and cognitive disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease. In order to get smarter about your added sugar intake, you need to get clear on sweeteners. Here’s what you need to know.
What are added sugars?
Added sugars include the sweeteners that you’re adding to drinks, like tea and coffee, as well as those that manufacturers add to food. When you think of added sugars, you’re probably thinking about foods like cookies, ice cream and soda, but sugars are added to about 75% of packaged foods, whether those foods are sweet or not. Foods like bread, whole grain cereals, plant-based milk (such as oat milk), granola bars, yogurts, soups, salad dressings and other condiments often contain sneaky amounts of added sugars. At first glance, these amounts may not seem like much, but over the course of a day, they can easily put you over the recommended limit for added sugars.
How to track added sugars
On a food label, added sugars are listed as grams. There are roughly 4 grams of sugar per teaspoon, so the recommendations for daily sugar limits translate to 25 grams for women and kids and 36 grams for men.
When you’re looking at food labels, take note of the added sugar line right beneath the total sugar line. This tells you the amount of added sugar for the typical serving of that food. You’ll also want to zero in on the serving size at the top of the label to get a sense of whether you eat more or less than the standard portion since your added sugars will increase (or decrease) according to how much you eat. Then, compare your item…
Read the full article here
