Sugars occur naturally in foods such as fruits, which contain fructose, and milk products, which contain lactose. Most other sugars come in the form of added sugars found in a wide variety of foods, such as soft drinks, desserts, breads and cereals. Added sugars provide no nutrients and add excessive calories to your diet, often causing weight gain or health problems. Organizations such as the American Heart Association, or AHA, recommend limiting your intake of added sugars.
Limits
The AHA recommends that women restrict their intake of added sugars to no more than 100 calories per day, or about 6 tsp. of sugar. Men should limit their added sugar intake to 150 calories per day, or about 9 tsp., according to the AHA.
Identifying Added Sugars
Recognizing the amount of sugar you eat each day and the sources of that sugar can help you take control of your sugar intake. Foods with added sugars include soft drinks, candy, cakes, cookies, pies, fruit drinks, ice cream, refined breads and cereals. To check for added sugars in packaged foods, read their ingredients labels. Look for ingredients such as corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, glucose, maltose, lactose, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice concentrates, honey, malt syrup, molasses, sucrose, raw sugar, sugar, syrup and honey. All of these ingredients indicate the presence of added sugars.
Calories From Sugar
One teaspoon of sugar equals about 4 g of sugar and contains 16 calories, according to the AHA. Each gram of sugar contains 4 calories. When checking packaged food nutrition labels, multiply the sugar content in grams by 4 to find out how many calories from sugar a serving of that food contains. A serving of cereal that contains 17 g of sugar, for example, contains 68 calories from sugar alone. For women, these calories represent 68 percent of your recommended daily sugar intake.
Reducing Sugar Intake
Check nutrition labels regularly and choose packaged cereals and breads with less added sugar. Avoid adding sugar to your drinks such as coffee and tea. Begin by cutting the sugar you add in half or using an artificial sweetener. Drink water or unsweetened beverages rather than sodas and sweetened teas. Cut the sugar called for in baking by one-third to one-half, suggests the AHA. Eat fresh fruits instead of fruits canned in syrup and add fresh or dried fruit to cereal and oatmeal rather than sugar. Substitute almond or vanilla extract for sugar in recipes and flavor foods with spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg or ginger rather than sugar.
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