News Flash:  Americans Still Struggle With Reducing Added Sugars

Speaking at the 2010 American Dietetic Association's Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo chair elect of the American Heart Association's nutrition committee Rachel Johnson discussed some facts in regards to added sugars and what is really being consumed.  

Even though the food industry has been trying to educate consumers on reducing their added sugar intake the recommended limits are still being exceeded in a big way.   For the record added sugars means extra sugars put into foods that you buy or eat.  This is not naturally occurring sugars, but those extra sugars food manufacturers added to make a product sweet or even sweeter.  

Most American's consume an average of 475 calories of added or extra sugar per day according to the American Heart Association.  This equates to about 30 teaspoons of added extra sugar per day.  

The American Heart Association has quantified the amount of extra sugar a man and a women can consume per day to minimize health issues.  Women can consume about 100 calories a day of added sugars or what would equal 6 teaspoons.  Men and their generally higher metabolisms are allowed about 9 teaspoons or 150 calories of added sugar per day according to Rachel Johnson.  

Now these numbers can go up or down based on if you are active or sedentary.  For some sedentary women they advise only 48 extra sugar calories per day.  

They did not single out specific foods or beverages, but state that sugar soft drinks are one of the biggest problems with added sugar.  According to NHANES data 36 percent of consumed added sugars in the American diet comes from sugar sweetened drinks.  

She did discuss the importance of being aware of the differences between added and naturally occurring sugars.  It is important to compare plain versions of a food to its sweetened counterpart.  

A good example is yogurt .  Look at plain all natural yogurt  and the natural sugar content and then compare it to a flavored or sweetened yogurt.  You will be able to easily tell how much added sugars it equates to.

You can do this with numerous foods.  Don't worry about the natural occurring sugars and instead focus on the extra sugars that are added in food that already contains sugar.  This is where American's reach the 30 teaspoons a day of extra sugar.

We choose foods that are sweetened additionally by the manufacturer instead of choosing the healthier alternative of the same food.

Make sure you look at all your options and read the labels so that you choose the healthier alternative low in sugar and high in great quality proteins.

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