Added Sugar: What You Need to Know

Your body doesn’t need any added sugar—none at all.
While carbohydrates are an essential source of energy, the kind you get from added sugars offers little nutritional benefit. That’s why public health experts recommend consuming sugary drinks and sweets only sparingly, if at all.

Added sugars are sugars and syrups put into foods during preparation or processing. These are not the natural sugars found in fruits (fructose) or milk (lactose)—they’re extra sugars used to sweeten things like soda, candy, desserts, and even savory packaged foods.

🔢 How to Visualize Added Sugar

To better understand food labels:

• 4 grams of sugar = 1 teaspoon
• A 12-ounce can of soda contains about 39 grams of sugar, which is nearly 10 teaspoons!

Think about that next time you grab a bottle from the fridge—added sugar can sneak in fast.

🧁 How Much Added Sugar Are We Consuming?

On average, Americans consume 17 teaspoons of added sugar per day—that’s roughly 270 empty calories daily. This includes adults, teens, and children alike.

🧃 Where Is All That Sugar Coming From?

While many people assume added sugar comes mainly from spoonfuls stirred into coffee or drizzled over cereal, the truth is more surprising:

• Sugar-sweetened beverages (sodas, sports drinks, sweetened teas)
• Desserts and sweet snacks (cookies, cakes, pastries, ice cream)
• Breakfast cereals and flavored yogurt
• Even seemingly savory or healthy items like sauces, dressings, or granola bars often sneak in added sugars.

These “hidden sugars” contribute significantly to overall intake—often without us realizing it.

📏 Recommended Limits on Added Sugar

🧠 U.S. Guidelines (2020–2025)

• Adults and children (2 years and older):
  Keep added sugar below 10% of total daily calories
  → For a 2,000 calorie diet: no more than 50 grams (~12 teaspoons)
• Children under 2 years:
  Avoid all added sugars in food and drinks.

❤️ American Heart Association (AHA) Recommendations

To reduce obesity and heart disease risk, the AHA offers even stricter limits:

• Women:
  No more than 100 calories/day from added sugar
  → ≈ 6 teaspoons (24 grams)
• Men:
  No more than 150 calories/day from added sugar
  → ≈ 9 teaspoons (36 grams)
• Children (2–18 years):
  No more than 6 teaspoons/day (24 grams)
  → And no more than 8 oz of sugary beverages per week

🔍 Spotting Added Sugar on a Food Label

Reading food labels is one of the most effective ways to reduce added sugar in your diet. Fortunately, updates to the U.S. Nutrition Facts label have made this easier than ever.

🏷️ Understanding the Nutrition Facts Label

Previously, labels only listed “Total Sugars,” making it hard to tell how much came from naturally occurring sources like milk or fruit, and how much was added during processing. Now, labels must include:

• Total Sugars (naturally occurring + added)
• Added Sugars (listed directly beneath “Total Sugars”)

You’ll also see a % Daily Value (%DV) for added sugars:

• 5% DV or less per serving = Low
• 20% DV or more per serving = High

🧠 The %DV is based on a limit of 50g of added sugar per day for a 2,000-calorie diet.

📃 Ingredient List: Spot Hidden Sugars

Ingredients are listed by weight, so if any form of sugar is one of the first few ingredients, the product is likely high in added sugar—even if the label says “natural” or “organic.”

🍯 Watch Out for These Sugar Aliases

Manufacturers often use less familiar names for added sugars. If you see any of the following, you’re looking at a source of added sugar:

💡 If you see multiple sugars listed under different names, that’s a red flag!

🧃 Key Sources of Added Sugar: Spotlight on Sugary Drinks

When it comes to added sugars, sugar-sweetened beverages are the biggest offenders. They offer zero nutritional benefits and a high calorie load, contributing to:

• Weight gain
• Type 2 diabetes
• Heart disease
• Other chronic conditions

🧪 Why Sugary Drinks Are Especially Harmful

Unlike solid food, liquid carbohydrates are less satisfying. That means:

You can consume a large number of calories from beverages and still feel hungry.

🚨 Just How Much Sugar Are We Drinking?

• A 20-ounce bottle of soda, lemonade, or iced tea contains about 65g of added sugar — that’s 16 teaspoons!
• Just one 12-ounce can daily (without cutting calories elsewhere) can lead to 15 pounds of weight gain over 3 years.

🔎 Don’t Be Fooled by Serving Sizes

Beverage labels can be misleading. For example:

Always check serving size AND servings per container.

🧾 Updated Labeling to the Rescue

The new Nutrition Facts label now requires:

• Serving sizes based on what people actually consume, not ideal portions
• 12 oz is now the “typical” beverage serving (up from 8 oz), helping standardize sugar info across drinks

🥣 Cereals and Other Foods: Sneaky Sugar Sources

Many popular breakfast staples come loaded with added sugar, even those marketed as “healthy.”

✅ Better options:
Choose minimally processed breakfasts like:

• Whole grain toast with nut butter
• Steel-cut or old-fashioned oats
• Plain yogurt with fruit

⚠️ Hidden Sugar in Common “Healthy” Foods

Breakfast cereals, instant oatmeals, cereal bars, and pastries often hide high sugar content. Manufacturers may:

• Use multiple types of sugar (like molasses, brown rice syrup, and cane sugar) to avoid listing “sugar” first
• Highlight healthy ingredients (like fiber or vitamins) to mask the sugar content

🧁 Example:
A popular cereal with whole grains and antioxidants still contains 18g of added sugar—that’s 4.5 teaspoons in just one small serving.

🥨 A granola bar might list 6g of sugar per bar, but with 2 bars per pack, you’re actually eating 12g of added sugar if you eat the whole thing.

🕵️ Pro Tip: Read the Label Carefully

When reading ingredient lists and nutrition facts:

• Check for all forms of sugar, even if they’re not first on the list
• Be mindful of serving sizes—many products contain multiple servings per package

🍬 All added sugars—whether “natural” like honey or refined like corn syrup—are processed the same way by your body

✅ Bottom Line: Cutting Back on Added Sugar

Your body does not require carbohydrates from added sugars to function properly. Instead, it thrives on carbohydrates from whole, nutrient-rich foods. A simple guideline:

⚠️ Avoid products where “sugar” (or its many aliases) is one of the first ingredients.

Fortunately, the updated Nutrition Facts label in the U.S. includes a dedicated line for “Added Sugars,” making it easier to distinguish between naturally occurring and added sugars.

🛠️ Tips to Reduce Added Sugar in Your Diet:

• 🥣 Choose plain yogurt and mix in fresh/frozen fruit or unsweetened applesauce + cinnamon.
• 🥄 Pick cereals with 5% or less of the Daily Value (DV) for added sugars; top with sliced banana or berries.
• 💧 Drink water, seltzer, herbal tea, or coffee—unsweetened. Add a slice of lemon, lime, or cucumber for flavor.
• 🍓 Craving something sweet? Try:
  • ¼ cup of unsweetened dried fruit
  • 1 cup of ripe fresh fruit
  • 1 oz of 75% dark chocolate
• 👩‍🍳 In baking:
  • Reduce added sugar by ¼ to ⅓ cup.
  • Or swap half the sugar with unsweetened applesauce or mashed banana (e.g., ½ cup sugar + ½ cup mashed fruit).
• 🍰 Still want dessert? Have a smaller portion. Eat slowly and savor each bite.

🍬 Retrain Your Taste Buds

The less sugar you eat, the less you’ll crave it. Over time, your taste buds adjust—foods you once loved may start to taste overly sweet.