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According to the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, sugary drinks are the leading source of added sugar in the American diet. For some, this fact might be surprising, especially with candy and treats being on our mind with Halloween right around the corner, but dessert items like cookies, cakes, ice cream and candy come in a close second for leading source of add sugar in our diets. For today, we’re going to focus on why we should limit our consumption of sugary beverages like sports drinks, regular soda, energy drinks, flavored coffees, fruit drinks and sweetened teas, what is considered too much added sugar, and alternative beverage options.
What is considered too much added sugar?
The American Heart Association has a recommended limit for added sugar intake. For women and children (older than two years old), it is recommended to limit added sugar intake to six teaspoons or twenty-five grams and for men limit to nine teaspoons or thirty-six grams. This might not sound too bad, but most Americans are consuming nearly 20 teaspoons of added sugar each day! On top of that, the average American consumes 39 pounds of sugar per year from soda and other sweetened drinks. To give you a visual, this is comparable to about four gallons of paint! Yikes!
Why do we want to keep added sugar from beverages under control?
Individuals who often drink sugary drinks are more likely to face health problems like weight gain, obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, non-alcoholic liver disease, cavities, and gout. Added sugar provides no nutrients to our body, so we want to focus on eating more nutrient rich foods and moving more to live long happy lives.
How do we know if a product has too much added sugar?
When looking at our nutrition label we want to first look for “total sugars.” Total sugars refer to both added sugar and natural sugars. Natural sugars, which are not listed on the label, might be coming from fructose in fruit and lactose in milk, which are both good food sources and provide our body with proper nutrients. Now under “total sugars” we will find a category named “added sugars.” The added sugars are those we want to limit and keep as low as we possibly can, not only in our beverages, but all items we consume. This chart displays some popular beverages and the amount of added sugar in them. As you can see added sugar can add up fast!!
How do we cut back on these added sugars?
The best way to cut back on sugary beverages is to try to make substitutions. Items like water, seltzer (if you’re a fan of bubbles), unsweetened tea or iced tea, low fat milk, diet soda, black coffee or with sugar substitute and 100% fruit juice are good alternatives to try to add into your daily routine. If these options seem too challenging, maybe try to decrease your portion, or dilute your sugary beverage with water. For example, pour half a glass of Snapple and add water to the rest.
Small changes can go a long way and help us continue to bring our sugary beverage intake down a notch!
Cheers,
This blog was written by Amanda J. Stahl RD, LDN, co-founder of Simple Start Nutrition. For more blog posts and nutrition information follow @simplestartnutrition on Instagram and Facebook. Also feel free to contact us, by visiting our website (simplestartnutrition.com) to schedule an appointment to discuss your nutrition related needs. We’re here to help.
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