Be smart about sugar consumption

Alicia Colombo

Sources: U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention | American Heart Association

Sugars and syrups are often added to processed food and drinks. This means you may be consuming a lot more sugar than you realize.

On average each day, adult men consume 19 teaspoons of added sugars, and adult women consume 15 teaspoons of added sugars.

It is recommended that adults consume less than 10% of their total daily calories from added sugars. If an adult consumes 2,000 calories a day, then no more than 200 calories should come from added sugars. This is the equivalent of 12 teaspoons of sugar.

Consuming too many added sugars is associated with weight gain and obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and tooth decay.

Major sources of added sugar include the following:

• Sugary drinks, such as soda, fruit drinks and energy drinks.
• Coffee and tea, especially if sweetened or flavored before sale. Many coffee shops use unflavored coffee as a base, then add any flavoring(s) with sugar syrups.
• Desserts and sweet snacks, including cookies, brownies, cakes, pies, ice cream, frozen dairy desserts, doughnuts, sweet rolls and pastries.
• Candy and chocolate.
• Breakfast cereals and granola bars.

Rethink your drink
One 12-ounce can of regular soda contains nearly a day’s worth of added sugar, not to mention empty calories. Water has zero calories. Replacing sugary drinks with unsweetened water can help reduce the amount of added sugar consumed.

Other healthier drink options, include:

• Unsweetened coffee or teas, sparkling water, seltzers, and sugar-free flavored waters.
• Unsweetened iced tea or diet soda.
• Low-fat or fat-free milk and fortified soy beverages with no added sugars.
• 100% fruit or vegetable juice.

Other ways to reduce your consumption of added sugar:

• Toss the shaker. Cut back on the amount of sugar you add to beverages and foods, including cereal, coffee or tea. Try cutting the usual amount of sugar you add by half. Continue to decrease the sugar until your taste buds adjust.
• Read labels. When food shopping, read nutrition labels on packaged foods, especially soups, sauces and condiments. Dairy and fruit products will contain some natural sugars. Choose foods with the lowest amounts of added sugar.
• Go natural. Eat fresh, canned (in water or juice), frozen or dried fruits without added sugar. Use fresh fruit to top foods, like cereal, oatmeal, pancakes or yogurt, rather than syrup or other sweetened toppings.
• Limit sugar. When baking cookies, brownies or cakes, reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe by one-third to one-half. You can use an equal amount of unsweetened applesauce to replace sugar, if desired.
• Enhance flavor in recipes by using extracts, such as almond, vanilla or lemon.
• Spice it up. Enhance the flavor of foods with warm spices, such as ginger, allspice, cinnamon or nutmeg.
• Go low-cal. Use low-calorie sweeteners when necessary. Low- and no-calorie sugar substitutes mimic the sweetness of sugar. These sugar substitutes can work as a short-term solution as you gradually train your palate to enjoy foods and drinks that are less sweet.