How To Lower Your Sugar Intake To Lose Weight

It's no sweet surprise to find out just how many calories you get from sugar each day. If you're like the average American, you consume 22 teaspoons of added sugar daily, which adds up to about 355 calories. Added sugars are different from sugars that occur naturally in foods, such as lactose in milk; they're mixed into foods and drinks, often in surprisingly large quantities. You can eliminate many calories and lose weight if you lower your sugar intake.

Step 1

Limit your daily added sugar intake to the amount recommended by the American Heart Association. Women are advised to limit calories from added sugars to 100 per day, which equals about 6 teaspoons or 24 grams. Men are advised to limit their intake to 150 calories per day, the equivalent of 9 teaspoons or 36 grams.

Step 2

Cut way back on cola and other sugary soft drinks. Sweetened drinks are a major source of added sugar in the American diet and are linked with the high rate of obesity. One 12-ounce can of regular cola contains about 8 teaspoons of sugar, which adds up to approximately 130 calories.

Step 3

Learn the many names of added sugars so you can identify them on nutrition labels. Common names of added sugars include high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice concentrates, syrup, honey, molasses, corn syrup, corn sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar, invert sugar, dextrose, lactose, maltose, sucrose, fructose and glucose.

Step 4

Look for sugar where you might not expect it. One cup of baked beans has 15 grams of sugar and one cup of ketchup contains 40 grams. Caramel popcorn contains 18 grams per ounce, and one cup of reduced-calorie French dressing has 58 grams. You might think that lemonade is tart, but one cup of powdered lemonade mix contains an astounding 200 grams of added sugar, which equals 50 teaspoons and totals 800 calories.

Tips and Warnings

When manufacturers claim a product is sugar-free, that means there is less than 0.5 grams in each serving. Claims of reduced sugar or less sugar mean the product has 25 percent less sugar per serving compared with the traditional product.