Daily Sugar Intake
Much
Sugar Do You Need to Eat In Your Daily Diet?
Recommended Daily Sugar Intake
There is no official Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) or Daily
Values for sugar. However, United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA) advises adults who eat a 2,000-calorie diet to limit
consumption of sugar to about 40 grams (10 teaspoons) of added
sugars per day.
A teenage male who follows a healthy diet can eat about 18
teaspoons of added sugars, according to USDA. (Average sugar
intake of teenage males is about 34 teaspoons of sugar per day.)
Percentage of Calories from Sugar
The USDA sugar guidelines suggest that no more than 8 percent of
our daily calories should come from sugar.
Over-Consumption of Sugar in American Diet
According to USDA dietary sugar data, we're eating 30 percent more
cane, beet, corn, and other added sugars than we did in 1983 and
about twice as much as what USDA recommends. USDA urges people to
"...limit your intake of beverages and foods that are high in
added sugars."
High Sugar Foods
Using 40 grams as the Daily Value for added sugars might reveal
the high-sugar levels in many foods. For example, a cup of regular
ice cream contains 60 percent of the proposed Daily Value for
sugar, a typical cup of fruit-flavored yogurt contains 70 percent,
and a 12-ounce soft drink or quarter-cup of pancake syrup contains
100 percent.
Refined Sugars and Carbs in Diet
Added sugar in refined carbs is now considered to increase the
risk of insulin resistance and impairment of the insulin function
in the pancreas, triggering diabetes.
High Sugar Diets and Obesity
High sugar diets, or high glycemic index diets, can cause
excessive calorie-intake and obesity. If we eat a high glycemic
food or a high glycemic load meal, which by definition triggers a
rapid rise in our blood sugar levels, our pancreas is
over-stimulated and releases a much larger amount of insulin.
Result? This large quantity of insulin rapidly mops up the excess
sugar in our bloodstream causing our blood sugar levels to dip
quickly below normal, causing us to feel hungry once more. So even
though we may have eaten a high calorie meal, we are induced to
feel hungry and eat again within a comparitively short time. This
process may lead to excessive calorie intake and weight gain,
possibly causing obesity.
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