Sugar intake guidelines

Guidelines Help Curb the Sugar Craze

The American Heart Association (AHA) released specific guidelines on the recommended limits for added sugar in our diets. Added sugars are sugars or syrups used to process or prepare foods. They include high-fructose corn syrup, white and brown sugar, molasses, and more. These don’t include sugars that naturally occur in many fruits, dairy products, and other foods.

Knowing Your Limit
The upper limit of added sugar for each person varies, depending on overall calorie needs. But in general, women should drink or eat no more than 100 calories a day from added sugar. Men should have no more than 150 calories a day. This is equal to 6 and 9 teaspoons of added sugar, respectively. For reference, one regular can of cola contains a whopping 130 calories and 8 teaspoons of added sugar.

These guidelines are used only by the AHA, and they’re geared just toward adults. But they serve as a helpful measure of how much to limit sugar intake. High intake of added sugar is linked to obesity, high blood pressure, high triglyceride levels, and other heart disease risk factors.

Targeting High-Sugar Treats
It can be difficult to figure out how many calories come from added sugars. Nutrition labels don’t distinguish them from natural sugars. For an easy way to cut down on added sugars, limit these worst-offender treats:

Regular soft drinks
Candy
Cakes, cookies, and pies
Fruit drinks
Sweetened dairy products like ice cream and chocolate milk
For nutritious and satisfyingly sweet snacks to feed your family, check out tips from the American Dietetic Association at

http://www.eatright.org/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=id&ItemID=10825.