Sugar Guidelines?
On March 5, 2014 the World Health Organization released their proposed guidelines for sugar consumption. Their reasoning behind the recommendations is to reduce public health problems like obesity and dental caries (commonly referred to as tooth decay).
The new draft guideline proposes that sugars should be less than 10% of total energy intake per day. It further suggests that a reduction to below 5% of total energy intake per day would have additional benefits. Five per cent of total energy intake is equivalent to around 25 grams (around 6 teaspoons) of sugar per day for health weight adult.
Keeping your sugar intake at or below 6 teaspoons may not seem too difficult. However, much of the sugar we consume is hidden in processed foods we wouldn’t normally consider as “sweet foods.” The WHO points out, “1 tablespoon of ketchup contains around 4 grams (around 1 teaspoon) of sugar. And a single can of sugar-sweetened soda contains up to 40 grams (around 10 teaspoons) of sugar.” That would mean drinking a single sugar-sweetened soda would exceed the daily recommendations for sugar.
Do you know how much sugar you are eating every day? I challenge you to track how much sugar you eat in a day. It may surprise you!
To read the WHO guidelines for sugar, click here.
Leave a reply