Get out of the way trans fat, sugar is in the hot seat now. This week the American Heart Association (AHA) released new guidelines for the amount of sugar to consume…to be accurate and specific, the amount of added sugars to consume versus naturally occurring sugar as found in whole foods such as fruit. What are ‘added sugars’? Think of added sugars as the sugars and syrups added to foods during processing or added by you at the table. Examples of added sugars include sugar, honey, molasses, brown sugar, high fructose corn syrup, agave syrup…you get the idea.

Why all the commotion about added sugars? The data is just too clear to ignore any longer. A diet with a hefty intake of added sugars is tied to the rise in weight gain and obesity in the US. According to the American Heart Association, added sugars in large amounts are also associated with increased risks for high blood pressure, high triglyceride levels, and inflammation. Remember, we talked before about inflammation in the body, the link to heart disease and the potential role of an anti-inflammation diet. You can find the podcast on the anti-inflammation diet in the Nutrition & Health Center podcast archives at WDBO.com or on my site at susanmitchell.org.

Another reason that added sugars can be a big concern is that the calories they provide to the body are referred to as ‘empty calories’? What do think empty calories are? You got it….calories with zero, zip nutrition punch to your body. These calories aren’t providing you with any health benefit…no vitamins and minerals or naturally occurring phytonutrients found in real food…just calories that can easily end up on your belly or backside when consumed in large quantities.  Let me stop here a second…the discouraging part for most of us is the term ‘large quantities’.  The reality is that it doesn’t take a lot of extra…discretionary calories if you will…to put on the pounds.

By the way, do you know what the number one source of added sugars in the US is?  Candy? Ice cream? It is soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages.

Ok, the new recommendations from the AHA suggest:

• Most women should consume no more than 100 calories (about 25 grams) of added sugars per day.
• Most men should consume no more than 150 calories (about 37.5 grams) each day.
• That’s about six teaspoons of added sugar a day for women and nine teaspoons for men.

Here’s the deal. The data shows that Americans are swallowing over 22 teaspoons of added sugars each day. How many grams is that equivalent to since the food labels have sugars listed in grams? Here’s your nutrition 101 lesson for the day: the conversion of sugar grams on a food label to teaspoons. Let’s say your favorite can of root beer contains 120 calories per cup and 31 grams of sugar according to the Nutrition Facts label. One teaspoon of added sugar is roughly 4 grams so if our soda contains 31 grams of added sugars…that almost 8 teaspoons of added sugars….well on the way to that 22 teaspoons that most Americans consume each day.

Let’s go back to the AHA recommendations and make sense of them. The suggestion is for women to limit added sugars to 25 grams per day. Ok, put your math to work. Remember 1 teaspoon is 4 grams and you have 25 grams as the suggested intake for the day…or about 6 teaspoons per day. For the guys, your suggested intake is 37.5 grams of added sugars per day which would be about 9 teaspoons…right…1 teaspoon is 4 grams multiplied by 9 teaspoons is equal to 36 grams…so close to the 37.5 gram suggestion.

In case you are wondering where the 100 calories of added sugars for women and 150 calories for men came from, let me explain. We’ve talked about how to convert grams to teaspoons. Well converting grams to calories is easy too. Four is the operative number here again. There are 4 calories per gram of added sugars so if the suggestion for women is 6 teaspoons or about 25 grams…at 4 calories per gram…that’s the 100 calories. Nine teaspoons or about 37.5 grams of added sugars for men is 150 calories. Now you’re an expert and can convert grams to teaspoons on a food label!

Be a sleuth. Notice what foods your added sugars are coming from. Notice how much you are consuming and what part in your diet added sugars are playing. If your intake is high, think about where you might cut back on these empty calories a bit.

Listen to this week’s podcast