Use the “divide by 4” rule of simple sugar math. Take the calories and divide by 4 to get the grams of added sugar. For 200 calories, this is 50 grams. And for teaspoons? Divide by 4 again to get around 12 teaspoons of added sugars daily.
Full Answer
How much sugar should you be consuming per day?
- red = high (more than 22.5g of sugar per 100g or more than 27g per portion)
- amber = medium (more than 5g but less than or equal to 22.5g of sugar per 100g)
- green = low (less than or equal to 5g of sugar per 100g)
How much sugar should/can you eat in a day?
Men should consume no more than 9 teaspoons (36 grams or 150 calories) of added sugar per day. For women, the number is lower: 6 teaspoons (25 grams or 100 calories) per day.
How much sugar does the average person eat per day?
Do The Math. The average American consumes 17 teaspoons (71.14 grams) every day. That translates into about 57 pounds of added sugar consumed each year, per person. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends the following guidelines: 6 teaspoons (25 grams) of added sugar per day = 100 calories per day for women
How to calculate your daily sugar intake?
- Know that sugar has many names. These names include sugar, sucrose, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), dehydrated cane juice, fructose, glucose, dextrose, syrup, cane sugar, raw sugar, corn syrup, and ...
- Check the ingredient list. ...
- Be aware of “healthy” high sugar foods. ...
How to minimize sugar in diet?
How to minimize sugars in your diet. Limit these foods, in order of importance: Soft drinks. A single 12-ounce (355-mL) can of soda contains as much as 8 teaspoons of sugar ( 10 ). Fruit juices. Fruit juices contain the same amount of sugar as soft drinks.
How much sugar was consumed in 2008?
In 2008, people in the United States were consuming over 60 pounds (28 kg) of added sugar per year — and this does not include fruit juices ( 1. Trusted Source. ). The average intake was 76.7 grams per day, which equals 19 teaspoons or 306 calories.
How to reduce sugar in food?
Limit these foods, in order of importance: 1 Soft drinks. A single 12-ounce (355-mL) can of soda contains as much as 8 teaspoons of sugar ( 10 ). 2 Fruit juices. Fruit juices contain the same amount of sugar as soft drinks. Choose whole fruit or canned fruit with no additional sweetening instead. 3 Candies and sweets. Try to limit your consumption of sweets. 4 Baked goods. These include cookies, cakes, and pies, among other pastries. They tend to be very high in sugar and refined carbohydrates. 5 #N#Low fat or diet foods. Foods that have had the fat removed from them are often very high in sugar.
What are some alternatives to sugar?
Natural, zero-calorie alternatives to sugar include stevia and monk fruit. Summary. Reduce your sugar intake by limiting soft drinks, fruit juice, candy, and baked goods.
What is added sugar?
Added sugar is the main ingredient in candy and abundant in many processed foods, such as soft drinks and baked products. The most common added sugars are regular table sugar (sucrose) and high fructose corn syrup. To lose weight and optimize your health, do your best to avoid foods that contain added sugars.
How to avoid high sugar foods?
Check the ingredient list. If the ingredient list of a packaged food contains sugar in the first 3 ingredients or more than one type of sugar, consider avoiding it. Be aware of “healthy” high sugar foods. Know that other high sugar foods often labeled healthy fall into the same category.
What can I drink instead of sugar?
Drink water instead of soda or juices and don’t add sugar to your coffee or tea. Instead of sugar in recipes, you can try things like cinnamon, nutmeg, almond extract, vanilla, ginger, or lemon. Try to be creative and find recipes online.
How long should I record my sugar intake?
For three days you should record your sugar intake. The first day, simply count how many grams of sugar you're eating. If it's too high, you goal for the next two days is to try and take in less. If you're too low, you may want to consider adding more fruit to your diet.
How many calories should I eat a day?
That works out to between 40 and 55 grams per person eating a 2,000 calorie a day diet.
How to find the amount of sugar in a recipe?
First, find the sugar amount of each ingredients used. Adjust this amount, based on how much of the ingredient was in the recipe, then adjust it again based on the amount you actually consumed. Do this for each ingredient, and then add the amounts of sugar together to get the total amount of sugar found in the food.
How much sugar is in a teaspoon of sugar?
One teaspoon of white granulated sugar contains about 4 to 5 grams sugar.
How to check if there is a nutrition label?
Check if there is a nutrition label. The amount of sugar found in the food is listed under the carbohydrates section of the label. Remember that the values shown on the food label are based on one serving. If you consumed more or less than this serving size, adjust the amount of sugar accordingly.
Can you limit sugar in coffee?
A woman is stirring sugar into her coffee. Sugar does not have an established recommended daily value, but the FDA recommends that you limit your daily consumption of it. This can be difficult to do, especially if you aren't sure how much sugar is in the foods you are eating. While most packaged foods come with a nutrition label ...
LUNCH
Apple Juice (1 cup) – 40g / 10 teaspoons Cheese Sandwich – 6g / 1 teaspoon Peach – 9g / 2 teaspoons
DINNER
By looking at my meal plan for the day you can easily find areas to improve upon.
How to reduce sugar intake?
Once you resolute firmly on reducing your daily consumption of sugar, make sure you do it the right way. Start off by cutting off your intake of food with added sugars. This includes carbonated drinks, artificial juices, candies and cakes. Avoid using canned fruits that are immersed in sugary syrups.
What is added sugar?
Added sugar refers to the extracted sugar which is added into a variety of processed foods like carbonated drinks, juices, candies, cakes, and sweetened dairy products including ice cream, yogurt and milk.
What percentage of calories should be empty?
Between 8 to 13 percent of the recommended calorie intake is recommended as empty calories. If you consume empty calories, there is a big chance you are consuming a mix of added sugars and solid fats. However, if you only want added sugars to make a part of your empty calorie intake, you are free to do so. The USDA does not mention anything about ...
Can you have sugar as an empty calorie?
However, if you only want added sugars to make a part of your empty calorie intake, you are free to do so. The USDA does not mention anything about only having sugar making up for your total empty calorie intake. Let’s see an example of what you could consume if you only use added sugars as your empty calories.
Is sugar intake a lesson in moderation?
Daily sugar intake – A lesson in moderation. As you must have understood by now, sugar intake should always be practiced in moderation. Excessive sugar intake is associated with a myriad of diseases including obesity, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, tooth decay and even certain cancers. ...
Is sugar a natural or added sugar?
When it comes to the recommended sugar intake per day, you could actually say that sugar exists as natural sugar and added sugar. Natural sugar, found in milk, fruits and vegetables is mostly in the form of glucose, lactose, fructose or sucrose.
Is sugar an essential nutrient?
Since every individual has different needs based on their gender, age, body size and level of activity, along with the fact that added sugar is not an essential nutrient, it is very difficult to exactly pinpoint a specific amount of sugar intake per day for everyone. What can be done, however, is to specify a healthy amount ...
What are the simplest carbohydrates?
Sugars are the simplest form of carbohydrates and can be found naturally in fruits, dairy, and vegetables; they can also be found in processed form in candy, cookies, cakes, and many beverages. Starches are complex carbohydrates that can be found naturally in many types of beans, vegetables, and grains. Fibers are complex carbohydrates that can be ...
Is sugar necessary for survival?
Added sugars, a common form of simple carbohydrates, have little nutritional value and are not necessary for survival. While the body does require some carbohydrates (which are broken down into sugar), it is not necessary to consume sugary foods to meet this need.
Is sugar a bad carb?
are low in, or do not contain, cholesterol and trans fats. Bad carbs essentially are the opposite of good carbs and: are full of refined sugars (ex. corn syrup, white sugar, honey, fruit juices) are high in sodium and may contain high levels of saturated fat.