Fructose in fruit and lactose in milk are examples of natural sugars in nutritious foods, while added sugars are sugars, or simple carbohydrates, which are not naturally in foods. In moderation, added sugar can fit into a balanced diet, but the healthiest approach is to reduce your intake of added sugars and emphasize more nutritious foods.
Background on Sugars
Added sugars provide sweetness to foods; they improve the texture of baked goods, such as cakes; add weight or volume to ice cream; or act as a preservative in jams and jellies. Examples of added sugars include brown sugar, white sugar, honey, molasses, corn syrup and high-fructose corn syrup. Along with solid fats and added starches, added sugars are considered empty calories because they contribute calories without essential nutrients.
Recommendations
A balanced, 2,000-calorie diet does not have more than 258 total calories per day from solid fats and added sugars, according to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. If you have no solid fats in a day, the most added sugars you should have is 258 calories, or 65 g, since sugars provide 4 calories per 1 g. The average American gets about 88 g added sugars per day.
Unhealthy Foods
In the average American diet, top sources of added sugars are soft drinks, energy drinks, ice cream, frozen yogurt, cakes, cookies, pies, pastries, other baked goods and candies, according to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. You may also get sugar from adding it at the table. Added sugars can derail a weight-loss diet because they are often in high-calorie foods which are not filling, so it is easy to overeat.
Other Information
Added sugars in a diet can be bad for your heart because they can raise your triglyceride levels. Limiting your intake of added sugars can often improve your diet quality, but added sugars can be healthy if they encourage you to eat nutritious foods you would otherwise avoid. Examples of nutritious, sugar-sweetened foods include chocolate milk, sugar-sweetened yogurt or cereal. Both natural and added sugars can lead to tooth decay if you do not brush your teeth after eating them.
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