Sugar brings a touch of sweetness to foods and drinks, but can also contribute to health issues like weight gain, diabetes, and cavities. Gain a better understanding of the role sugar plays in your body and the recommendations of prominent health organizations.
Sugar is a carbohydrate (carb), and carbs are your body’s main source of fuel. Your brain uses roughly half of the sugar in your bloodstream (called blood glucose) for energy.
One of your brain’s most important functions is to rule over your nervous system. It controls how you think, feel, move, and speak. It also regulates involuntary actions like breathing and digestion. Do you ever experience confusion or difficulty concentrating when you go too long without eating? That “brain fog” is a sign that you may be experiencing low blood sugar (hypoglycemia).
How much sugar is OK to have every day?
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend people 2 and older limit added sugars to no more than 10% of calories per day. Infants and toddlers younger than 2 shouldn’t get added sugars at all. This recommendation is a little more generous than the American Heart Association recommendations, which suggest limiting added sugars to no more than 6% of total calories per day.
What this really means for you depends on the guidelines you follow:
- Dietary Guidelines for Americans: If you consume 2,000 calories each day, only about 200 of those calories should come from added sugars. That’s about 12 teaspoons of daily added sugars.
- American Heart Association: Females should limit added sugars to 6 teaspoons per day (about 100 calories). Males should stick to about 9 teaspoons (150 calories) per day.
3 ways to reduce your sugar intake
Step 1: Look for low- or no-sugar products
Choose products that have low- or no-added sugars. Since these claims can be confusing, here’s a quick guide:
- No-added sugar products only have naturally occurring sugars. You may also see the claim “without added sugars.”
- Reduced sugar products have at least 25% less sugar per serving than the standard variety.
- Sugar-free products have less than 0.5 grams of sugar per serving.
Step 2: Check the ingredient list
Sugar comes in many forms, and food manufacturers may label them differently. These words on an ingredient list indicate added sugars:
- Corn syrup or corn sweetener
- Fruit juice concentrates
- High-fructose corn syrup
- Honey
- Ingredients ending in -ose, such as dextrose, fructose, maltose, and sucrose
- Molasses
- Syrup
Step 3: Read the Nutrition Facts label
Nutrition Facts labels can help you determine if a food or drink has added sugars — and how much is in each serving. Since sugar is a carbohydrate, you’ll find the sugar information underneath total carbohydrates.
Total sugars reflect the combined amount (in grams per serving) of naturally occurring and added sugars. There’s a separate line for added sugars (also in grams per serving). Next to this, you’ll see the percent Daily Value (written as %DV).
The percent Daily Value helps you know if a product is high or low in added sugars. In general:
- Products with 5%DV or less are low sources of added sugars
- Products with 20%DV are high sources of added sugars
In summary: Be sugar smart
Sugar plays a key role in our diet: As a carbohydrate, it helps fuel the brain and nervous system. But using it in moderation is important since consuming too much sugar can have negative health effects. For health benefits, prioritize naturally occurring sugars in your diet. You can decrease your overall sugar consumption by reading Nutrition Facts labels and choosing products that are lower in added sugars.
Now that you know the benefits of eating less sugar, you may be curious about how to make smart shopping choices. Safeway’s Sincerely Health nutrition tool in the grocery app can help. You can start by downloading the grocery app. You’ll save $10 on groceries for creating an account. Next, create a personalized Sincerely Health nutrition profile to receive 1,000 points.
Your nutrition profile allows you to set specific nutrition goals and earn 10 points for items you purchase, for a maximum 100 points per order (that’s 10 items at 10 points each).
Join Safeway’s Sincerely Health and set up your nutrition profile today.