Americans are sweethearts, and that’s not always a good thing: Most people in the United States consume 20 teaspoons of added sugar — more than 300 calories worth — per day, according to the American Heart Association (AHA).
The AHA recommends women limit their daily sugar intake to 100 calories, which equals 6 teaspoons or 25 grams, and men to 150 calories, which equals 9 teaspoons or 36 grams, per day.
Why It’s Important to Avoid Added Sugar
Eating too much sugar of any kind is linked to obesity, Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. But what’s the deal with added sugar? Is the sugar in an orange different than the sugar in, say, an orange soda?
“Interestingly, the body doesn’t distinguish between natural and manmade sugars,” says Dr. Yvette-Marie Pellegrino, family medicine specialist at Beaufort Memorial Lady’s Island Internal Medicine. “Your body exerts the same amount of energy to break them down.”
However, fruit, milk and other sources of natural sugar also contain other valuable nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals and fiber, that your body needs. Added sugar, which often hides behind names like corn syrup, fructose, maltose and other words ending in –ose, has little to no nutritional value. Most of the time, your body stores those types of sugars as fat.
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Added Sugar? Check the Label
Between 2020 and 2021, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration will begin requiring nutrition labels to include “added sugar” content. A study published in Circulation estimates this could prevent or delay 1 million cases of cardiometabolic diseases.
When grocery shopping, read the nutrition label carefully to find out how many grams of added sugar a product contains.
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The AHA also notes that the No. 1 source of added sugar in the American diet is sweetened beverages, such as sodas, energy drinks, and flavored teas or coffees. Swap them out for unsweetened versions or, better still, drink plain water.
You might also be surprised at the other places added sugar lurks. Salad dressings, condiments like ketchup and even health foods such as yogurt can contain high levels of added sugar. Sugar acts as a flavor and texture enhancer and to add bulk to foods. As a result, many “low-fat” foods contain high levels of sugar to replace some of the flavor fat might add — making it all the more important to read ingredient and nutrition labels carefully.
Trying to nix sugar to shed some pounds? Find out if you qualify for the Beaufort Memorial Healthy Weight program, led by Dr. Pellegrino, by calling 843-522-7240.