How much Sugar should you have in a Day?

How Much Sugar Should You Have In A Day?

A quick review of the USDA's literature on recommendations for healthy food consumption shows there are no suggestions for daily sugar consumption. However, the American Heart Association has taken a fairly strong stance on the subject.How Much Sugar Per Day How Much Sugar Should You Have In A Day To Maintain A Healthy Weight?

According to the AHA's data, the average American consumes just over 22 teaspoons of sugar in a day. Predictably, kids between the ages of 14-18 eat the most at just over 34 teaspoons each day. These are sugars that are added to foods during manufacturing or processing, rather than naturally occurring (as in fruits and vegetables), and for those kids, it translates to nearly 550 calories each day from sugar!

The USDA's current recommendations for daily calorie consumption includes the concept of discretionary calories, which are essentially those calories from alcohol and refined foods. On average, these amount to 10-15% of total daily calories. The following table shows how many teaspoons of sugar a person should eat, based on their daily calorie consumption.

How Much Sugar Should You Have Per Day?
Daily Calories Teaspoons Of Added Sugar
1200 4
1400 4
1600 3
1800 5
2000 8
2200 9
2400 12
2600 14
2800 15
3000 18

These numbers are smaller than one might expect. To put it in perspective, examine the following table, which lists the number of teaspoons of added sugar in some common foods.

Teaspoons Of Added Sugar In Some Common Foods
Food Serving Size Teaspoons Of Added Sugar
Coke 12 ounce 9
Kool-Aid 8 ounce 6
Glazed Donut 1 ea 2.5
Spaghetti 1/2 cup 0
Pecan Pie 1 slice 7
Oat Bran Muffin 100-grams 2
Frozen Lemonade 1 cup 20
Vanilla Ice Cream 1/2 cup 3
Corn Flakes 1 cup (dry) <0.5
Frosted Flakes 1 cup (dry) 4

And, even though we're dealing with "added sugars," which are considered discretionary calories, there's still the case of inherent sugar content, which still contribute calories. Although fruits are healthy, and far better than "sugar added" alternatives, fruits are sweet because they do contain sugars in the form of fructose. Check out the fructose content of many common fruits, again listed in teaspoons.

Teaspoons Of Sugar In Common Fruits
Fruit Serving Size Teaspoons Sugar
Pineapple 2 slices 3
Apples 1 medium 4
Red Grapes 1 cup 3
Strawberries 1/2 cup 1
Kiwi 1 fruit 2
Orange 1 medium 4
Grapefruit 1 cup sections 4

We can see from this exercise that, although the focus of AHA dietary recommendations about sugar content is on added sugars and discretionary calories, even the sugar content in fruits can become problematic if they're consumed in too large of a quantity. A friend of the family who was recently diagnosed as a diabetic discovered this when he gave up refined sugar in favor of fruits.

The consumption of refined and added sugars is almost impossible to avoid in our society, particularly if you travel or dine out frequently. Busy lifestyles and the convenience of prepared foods make grab and go foods an easy choice. But planning ahead and having a general awareness of the sugar content of many classes of foods can ease the burden.

Resources

USDA

Sugar Guidelines

Photo Credit

http://livefitblog.com/2010/06/07/how-much-sugar-should-you-have-in-a-day-maintain-a-healthy-weight/