Quest for Added-Sugar Rule of Thumb

[livingdeb]

I really like sugar but added sugar is not good for you so I tried to find a rule of thumb for the maximum I can eat that's still okay. I know. Zero. But I looked longingly anyway.

First I learned that the average American eats 77 g/day. So, that would be way too much. And, indeed, the American Heart Association recommends 25 g/day of "added" sugar for women (37.5 for men).

US Dietary guidelines call for less than 10% of calories. The World Health Organization calls for less than 10% of calories, ideally less than 5%. Food Insight recommends "the 5/20 rule. A %DV [FDA daily value] of 5 or less is considered 'low' and a %DV of 20 or more is considered 'high.'"

Of these, the rule of thumb that most interests me is (5 to) 10% added sugar. Obviously, a high percentage of a small amount of calories is no big deal, and what matters is your overall percentage but this still appeals to me as way to evaluate specific foods. So, I looked up the nutrition information on a bunch of things to start developing a better sense of what's going on.

If a thing that satisfies my sweet tooth is 10% or less added sugars, I consider that good. And ideally savory things would have much, much less. (I include some specifics below because your specifics probably have different numbers.)

I expected these to be bad:

* orange juice - Technically no added sugars, but still considered bad - 21 g sugar = 84 calories/112 total calories = 75%

* pop tarts (Trader Joe's organic "hot cocoa" flavor toaster pastries) - 34 g added sugar = 136 calories/400 = 34%

* tomato soup (Campbell's - used to love it, now seems too sweet) - 12 g sugar = 48 calories/90 = 53%


I expected these not to be bad, but wasn't sure:

* boring, healthy cereal (Uncle Sam's) - 1 g sugar (all added) = 4 calories/190 = 2.1%

* box macaroni and cheese (HEB whole grain) - 6 g sugar = 24 calories/250 per package = 10% (yikes! from what? whey?)

* eggs - 0

* refried beans (La Sierra refried black beans) - less than 1 gram of sugars = less than 4 calories/160 = less than 3%

* cheese (Tillamook charp cheddar) - 0


I hoped these were not too bad:

* graham crackers (HEB honey grahams, which I buy to maximize fiber) - 8 g sugar = 32 calories/130 = 25%

* yummy, not crazy sweet cereal (HEB select ingredients classic granola) - 15 g sugar = 60 calories/270 = 22%

* chocolate chips (Guittard extra dark chocolate baking chips) - 5 g added sugar = 20 calories/80 = 25%

* snack (Trader Joe's organic coconut sesame seed clusters) - 3g added sugar = 12 calories/120 = 10%! Actually, per container is a better estimate: 9 g = 36 calories/350 = 10.3%, still pretty nice for a sweet snack.

* tomato soup (La Madeleine's tomato basil soup) - 21 g sugar = 84 calories/710 = 12%

* spaghetti sauce (Central Market Organics Tomato and Basil Pasta Sauce) - 4 g sugar = 16 calories/40 = 40%, but I see no added sugar in the ingredients, whew.

* pumpkin yogurt - 31 g = 124 calories/287 = 43%, or maybe just 104 calories added sugar = 36%


Have you found any of your favorite foods to be surprisingly sugar or non-sugary?


Related Video of the Day - WheezyWaiter's We Quit Sugar For A Month, Here's What Happened (11 min, 45 sec) - Long, but silly and fun. Oh, also informative.

"Well, nowadays you can't hurl a cronut without hitting a thought-provoking expose on how sugar is destroying humanity, one disease at a time. And I keep coming across videos and articles of people who lost eighty percent of their body fat, unlocked the eighth window to the soul, grew a third eye that only sees truth, and became an all-seeing all-knowing space baby at the center of the universe."

"Peanut butter pretzels? I looked! And they have sugar in them!"

"... slice sweet potatoes ... longways, spread out goat cheese on it, and then top ... it with blueberries and raspberries" - that does sound kind of good.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I think this is one of those areas where my food allergies have been a tremendous blessing. Since soooo many packaged foods have either ambiguous ingredients (ie "spices" or "natural flavoring" or "vegetable broth") or listed ingredients which I'm allergic to, I end up opting for single ingredient foods most of the time. Of course, finding said single ingredient foods once you get out of the produce aisle becomes more and more challenging every year since they're now injecting meat with broth, and packaging all sorts of basic foods with added ingredients. But whining aside, cooking pretty much everything from scratch gives you soooo much more control over what you're eating.

Hope you had a happy Thanksgiving!
:-)
-Cat

[livingdeb]

So glad you can see those allergies as a blessing! They are quick poisons instead of slow poisons for you!

I do like having more control and personalizing my food by cooking. No white flour at all! Only shade-grown chocolate!

Bummer about basic food packaging. I have noticed weirdness with meat and adding salt to everything. I am lucky not to live in a food desert and I have many choices for shopping. I wonder if you have any butchers around (who aren't in grocery stores).

I had a great Thanksgiving, thanks! Hope you did, too!