How Much Sugar Should You Have a Day - Virgin Pure

By Bob Fear

How Much Sugar Should You Have a Day - Virgin Pure

Are you having too much sugar in your diet?

We all get sugar cravings and most of us eat more sugar than we should do, according to evidence from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey, but how much sugar should you have a day? Well, the World Health Organization (WHO) states that our recommended added sugar limit needs to be halved.

The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition suggests that no more than 5% of our daily calories should come from added sugar, with the WHO agreeing that this should be our target.

How much sugar should you have a day?

So, how many grams of natural sugar per day and added sugar per day is recommended? For most adults, the current recommendation is 11%, so if it's halved that means our daily limit for added sugar would be about 25g. That means that (if one teaspoon = 4g) we should only be consuming around six teaspoons for an average adult - depending on how active you are. If we halve that amount for toddlers, it's about three and-a-half teaspoons of added sugar a day. When keeping a balanced diet, sugar intake is important but it’s also crucial to remember that your body loses water throughout the day.

How much sugar should a woman have a day?

However, if you’re wondering how much sugar should a woman have per day, the answer according to AHA is 6 teaspoons (25 grams or 100 calories) per day.

How much sugar should a man have a day?

And, if you’re wondering how much sugar should a man have a day, the AHA also suggests no more than 9 teaspoons (36 grams or 150 calories) of added sugar per day.

infographic: how much added sugar are we consuming?

How much sugar can a diabetic have a day?

Many diabetes sufferers can enjoy a sugary snack but it’s important to keep a balanced and healthy diet. Diabetic people should contact a healthcare professional so they know how much sugar they can have.

There are two types of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is caused by your immune system destroying insulin producing cells in your pancreas – this isn’t caused by lifestyle or sugar intake. Type 2 diabetes can more likely be caused if you’re overweight. Too much sugar can make you overweight, which then could increase the likelihood of getting diabetes.

Ill-effects of too much sugar on health

It’s important to know the different types of sugars. Gobbling loads of food and drink with added sugar might make us put on weight if we don't exercise enough and that can lead to heart disease and diabetes while also rotting our teeth.

We all seem to be well aware that too much sugar isn't much good for us, but our appetite for the sweet stuff means that we still indulge. And due to added sugar, we may also be downing much more sugar than we realise.

Public Health England said fruit drinks were fuelling tooth decay in toddlers, while campaigners from Action on Sugar called for fruit juice to be banished from our recommended five-a-day.

How much sugar should you have a day when you drink fizzy drinks and fruit juice?

Everything manufactured for us, from biscuits and cakes to ready meals and sauces, potentially has loads of sugar added. If you’re wondering how many grams of natural sugar per day this is, the answer is very little because the sugar is added! Soft drinks are an obvious culprit while it might surprise some people how much sugar is in seemingly healthy manufactured fruit juices and smoothies.

Implementation of the 'Sugar Tax'

Science boffins are even arguing now that excess sugar in our diets could be worse for us than excess salt. This led the government to bring in the Soft Drinks Industry Levy, also known as the 'Sugar Tax'.

Beverage manufacturers are taxed according to the volume of sugar-sweetened beverages they produce or import and the tax is imposed in two bands:

●Drinks with total sugar content above 5g per 100 millilitres are taxed at 18p per litre.

●Drinks above 8g per 100 millilitres at 24p per litre.

Drinks such as pure fruit juices and milk-based drinks, as well as smaller producers, would not be included in the tax.

Rather than negatively impacting performance, the tax seemed to help boost sales, according to Britvic’s 2018 Soft Drinks Review.

How do we cut down sugar intake and stop ourselves sliding down the syrupy slope towards toothless obesity?

  1. Most added sugars come from sugary drinks — so cutting out sodas, sports drinks, energy drinks, etc. can help to significantly cut your sugar intake.
  2. Avoid over indulging on desserts, as they don’t provide much in the way of nutritional value and are loaded with sugar, which causes blood sugar spikes that can leave you feeling tired and hungry and make you crave more sugar.
  3. You might not be aware, but sauces like ketchup, barbecue sauce, spaghetti sauce, and sweet chili sauce are packed full of extra sugar, so cutting down on them can have a huge impact.
  4. Some processed 'low fat' snack foods that market themselves as “healthy” are not as good as they may seem at first glance as they're usually packed full of sugar.
  5. A high in protein and fibre may reduce hunger and promote a feeling of fullness, helping you to avoid reaching for the sugary snacks.
  6. A lack of sleep may impact the types of food you eat, predisposing you to choose high-sugar snacks to get an energy boost.

Now that you know the answer to ‘how much sugar should have a day’, find out all the things you didn’t know about caffeine!

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