Quest for Added-Sugar Rule of Thumb
Nov. 21st, 2018 10:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebI 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.
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.