Jul 27
9:18 AM

From the Desk of a Registered Dietitian: The Truth About Sugar

I get lots of questions about sugar so I thought I would give you my opinion on sugar intake as well as some facts for you to keep in mind.

Sugar has been all over the news in recent years due to its overuse and possible contribution to the growing obesity problem in our country. As I mentioned in a recent post, sugar is actually a necessary part of our diet but there are good ways and bad ways to include it. The biggest difficulty when trying to understand sugar is its all-inclusive line on the Nutrition Facts panel. Sugar on the label includes both natural and added sugar which makes it difficult to know what you are getting. You can go on to read the ingredient list in an effort to determine what is natural and what is added but you’ll never know exactly how much comes from each. In the food label’s defense all sugar, whether added or naturally occurring eventually breaks down to the same glucose in your body so maybe they figure why bother complicating things with extra lines.

Foods that have naturally occurring sugar in them are fruits, grains, beans, dairy products and starchy vegetables. It’s best to get your “sugar” (for energy) from these foods because in addition you are taking in some fiber and protein so your body has to work to breakdown the food product and release its natural sugar slowly as it does so. If you want to know how much sugar is in these products, you should look for the most natural version you can find (example: plain yogurt or canned kidney beans) and read the label. Make sure there are no sources of added sugar in the ingredient list (more on that in the next paragraph). This is your baseline your product. When you see a comparable product you’ll know how much sugar is added by remembering this…

1 teaspoon of sugar = 4 grams of sugar on Nutrition Facts panel

Here is an example
A 6-oz cup of plain yogurt contains 11 grams of sugar and the ingredients are: nonfat milk, pectin and live cultures. A 6-oz cup of vanilla yogurt contains 24 grams of sugar and the ingredients are: nonfat milk, sugar, pectin and live cultures. As you can see the flavored yogurt contains 13 grams more sugar, which means they added about 3 teaspoons of sugar to sweeten it.

If you are not sure if there is added sugar, read the ingredient list and look for the following:
     Corn Syrup
     High Fructose Corn Syrup
     Invert Sugar
     Cane Juice
     Cane Syrup
     Raw Sugar or Turbinado

There are a few others but these would be the major sources of added sugar to look for. That being said, a little added sugar is not a reason to totally avoid a product but you should have a daily limit to avoid gaining weight and prevent the blood sugar roller coaster. There is no established limit but knowing what we know — 1 teaspoon = 15 calories & 4 grams of sugar — I would say it’s best to keep added sugar to a 4-5 teaspoon daily maximum (60-75 kcals, 15-20 grams).

The MyPyramid system allots about 150-200 “Discretionary Calories” per day depending on your needs. Discretionary Calories come from higher fat, higher sugar products so a little is okay but as with the yogurt example, you can see how quickly they add up! Also keep in mind that if you are trying to lose weight, a good way to do it while still feeling satisfied is to eat a full balanced diet (Grains, Fruits, Veggies, Meats, Dairy, Oils) but eliminate your discretionary calories by making the healthiest choices you can. There is nothing in my daily intake that I physically add sugar from my sugar bowl to but you have seen me eat sweetened yogurt, ice cream, cake, cookies, sweetened breakfast cereal and lemonade which all have sugar added by the manufacturer. I keep an eye on the amount though, and as a result I have maintained my weight for years now even with sugar as a part of my diet…in moderation of course!

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