Sugar Math

Remember the hormone Insulin? It’s responsible for regulating the amount of glucose inside your body – more specifically, it tries to maintain a blood glucose level of around 100 mg/dL (or roughly 1 “heaping” teaspoon of sugar (or 5 grams)…in your entire body! Compare that to the reality that most people consume (on average) 18 teaspoons of sugar per day [1]; and, there are some studies that report numbers as high as 42.5 teaspoons [2]…of sugar…per DAY! I mean, holy f’ing sweet tooth Batman! That’s a lot of sugar!

The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans suggest limiting your daily intake of calories from added sugars to less than 10 percent per day [3]. For an average 2,000 calorie diet, that’s 200 calories from added sugar, which is 50 grams of added sugar, which equals about 12.5 teaspoons of added sugar – per day. The World Health Organization (WHO), however, is urging humanity (on a global scale) to cut that down to less than 5% [4]. “Nutritionally, people don’t need any sugar in their diet,” explains Dr. Francesco Branca, Director of WHO’s Department of Nutrition for Health and Development. Which is absolutely true. Sugar is simply that – empty calories. It provides no nutritional support to our bodies. And, if you look at the reason behind why the USDA wants you to keep “free sugars” to less than 10% of your daily caloric intake…it’s because you won’t be able to, they say, “meet food group and nutrient needs within calorie limits.” To put it simply, you’re starving your body of what it needs to get something you think you want.

So, what are you supposed to do? Well, you’re already doing it! If you’re reading this, you are starting the first step – becoming aware. It’s quite simple, really. Your body doesn’t (aka, YOU DON’T) need sugar to survive. You don’t need sugar at all! Yes, I know it’s sweet and tasty and delicious. Hell, I used to literally eat it by the spoonful as a kid. But, if you could cut out one thing from your diet – ONE THING – it should be sugar.

The latest “rule of thumb” is ideally less than 5% of your daily calories should come from added (or natural) sugars. For a 2,000 calorie diet, 5% equals 25 grams. Now, 1 leveled teaspoon of sugar equals (roughly) 4 grams, therefore MEN should consume no more than 9 teaspoons of sugar per day, and WOMEN should consume no more than 6 teaspoons of sugar per day.

Depending on when you’re reading this, I’d be willing to bet you’ve already crushed that limit! To prove my point, let’s take a typical “breakfast.” Dunkin’ Donuts sound good to you? Sure it does! On their site, the Chef’s Pairing includes a frozen Dunkin’ coffee and a blueberry muffin. YUM! But, right above that they ask if I’ve tried the Vanilla Bean Coolatta. Well no, wonderful Dunkin’ website…I haven’t. So, I must. Let’s investigate.

A medium (not a large), Vanilla Bean Coolatta has 132 grams of sugar. 132 grams, divided by 4 grams in a teaspoon, gives us 33 teaspoons of sugar. A blueberry muffin only has a modest 43 grams of sugar, or 10.75 teaspoons. [6] Do the math. Carry the one…and, you get 44 teaspoons of sugar – before you even get to work.

Wow. Well done. Not only have you destroyed your daily limit before noon, you’ve already reached your limit (for women) for the entire WEEK!

So what if you don’t eat that for breakfast? Well, one 12 ounce can of Coke is more than the daily limit of sugar for men. More concerning – Tropicana’s “Healthy Kids” orange juice has the daily limit of sugar for kids in just one 8 ounce serving – and it’s marketed as “HEALTHY!”

So what’s the big deal? In a word – US!

“Consumption of free sugars, including products like sugary drinks, is a major factor in the global increase of people suffering from obesity and diabetes,” says Dr Douglas Bettcher, Director of WHO’s Department for the Prevention of NCDs.

Long-term over-consumption of added sugars has been verified to be a contributing factor in [7]:

Heart Disease
Diabetes
Large waist size
High triglycerides
High total cholesterol
High blood pressure
High blood sugar
Liver disease

and there is strong evidence to suggest that it is linked to:

Cancer
Alzheimer’s Disease
Premature Aging

Sugar is everywhere, and it’s extremely hard to avoid all together, but hopefully now you’re aware of the dangers it can cause and how easily it is to “over indulge.” Keep an eye out for upcoming articles where I’ll go over the sneaky methods the food industry pulls to hide it from you. I’ll also be digging into the biology of how sugar is metabolized in your body, and I’ll even produce evidence that sugar is actually more addictive than cocaine! In the meantime, however – just cut out the sugar. I guarantee you’ll feel a LOT better once you do.

Closing infographic created by www.OnlineNursingPrograms.com, and found on www.forbes.com, How Much Sugar Are Americans Eating?