A life without any sugar is a life we don’t want to live. And thankfully, experts say you don’t need to eliminate it from your diet. But shaving off some grams here and there is something most of us should be doing. “I’m not of the view that we should be draconian about this,” says Mattes. “Sugars do add palatability. And the most nutritious diet, if it’s not palatable, will have no health benefit—because people won’t eat it.” These strategies can help you find that balance.
What Is Sugar?
Sugar is one type of carbohydrate. Carbohydrate is one of the nutrients that provide calories in our diets. The other calorie-containing nutrients are protein and fat. There are various types of sugars, all of which provide about four calories per gram, the same as other carbohydrates and protein. All sugars are nutritive sweeteners, meaning that they are sweet and provide calories. Sweeteners that provide few or no calories and that we use as sugar substitutes are known as high-intensity sweeteners.
Nutritive Sweeteners
The most common nutritive sweetener is table sugar, or sucrose. Sucrose is a double sugar (disaccharide) made up of fructose and glucose, two simple sugars (monosaccharides). Fructose and glucose are found naturally in fruits and honey. Sucrose also is refined from sugar beets or sugarcane and is found in a wide variety of processed foods, some of which (e.g., salad dressings and ketchup) are not even sweet!
Fructose is sweeter than other sugars and is used to sweeten many foods. Because it is so sweet, a smaller amount can be used, which adds fewer calories. However, fructose does not taste sweeter than other sugars in all foods and beverages, and it is more expensive than sucrose.
Lactose, or milk sugar, is another disaccharide, containing the monosaccharides glucose and galactose. Lactose provides a small percentage of the sugar intake in the American diet. As you can tell from the taste of milk, lactose is not a very sweet sugar.
Another sugar found in a variety of foods is the disaccharide maltose, which consists of two glucose molecules. Maltose is used for brewing beer and is formed by yeast in bread making. Legumes (beans and lentils) and cereals contain small amounts of maltose.
Why We Eat Sugar
Sugar, syrups, and other sweeteners are found in a variety of foods as added ingredients. Foods with added sugars include candy, pastries, pies, cakes, cookies, cereals, beverages, salad dressings, and many others. Health professionals are concerned about the added sugars in these types of foods and other “hidden” sources of sugars. Fruits, which contain naturally occurring sugars, are part of a healthful diet. They provide a variety of nutrients and fiber and are great choices for wholesome sweet desserts or snacks. Milk contains the natural sugar lactose, which is a concern only for those who are unable to digest this sugar. Lactose-free milk is an option for those who are lactose-intolerant, and yogurt is often well tolerated.
Added sugars play a versatile role in foods. They give foods sweetness, a quality that many people enjoy. Besides improving the flavor of foods, sugars add texture and color to baked goods and help to thicken, firm, or preserve such foods as puddings, jams, and jellies. Eating these foods in moderation is fine, but many people consume much more added sugar than is healthy.
How Much Sugar We Eat
In the United States, in 2003 to 2010, added sugars made up about 14% of calorie intake for people six years and older. This does not count natural forms of sugar in fruits and dairy products. Adults (but not children) with lower incomes tend to have higher intakes of added sugars, which may play a role in their higher rates of obesity (CDC 2019).
The major sources of added sugars in the US diet are sugar-sweetened beverages (soft drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks, sweetened coffee and tea, alcoholic beverages, and flavored waters), providing almost half of total added sugars, and snacks and sweets (grain-based desserts, dairy desserts like ice cream, candy, jams, syrups, etc.), providing close to one-third of added sugars. The current Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends a shift in eating patterns to reduce added sugar intake to less than 10% of calories (USDA 2015).
Sugars and Nutrition
You may wonder if raw sugar, honey, or agave nectar are more nutritious than other sugars. The answer is no. All of the following sweeteners are nutritionally the same; they contain calories along with no (or minimal) nutrients other than sugar.
- Agave nectar: a nutritive sweetener produced from the heart of the agave plant. The fresh juice is heated, converting the complex carbohydrates into simple sugars, mainly fructose and glucose.
- Raw sugar: coarse, granulated crystals formed from the evaporation of sugarcane juice. Raw sugar contains impurities and is not sold in stores. When the impurities are removed along with most of the molasses, the sugar can be sold as turbinado sugar.
- Molasses: dark-colored syrup that is a by-product of sucrose production. It contains up to 70% sucrose. Molasses provides very small amounts of calcium and iron.
- Brown sugar: sucrose crystals covered with small but varying amounts of molasses.
- Invert sugar: mixture of glucose and fructose formed by chemically splitting sucrose. Invert sugar prevents crystallization of cane sugar in candy.
- Confectioners’ or powdered sugar: finely ground sucrose crystals mixed with a small amount of cornstarch.
- Honey: a sweetener containing fructose, glucose, maltose, and sucrose. It is made by bees and contains only trace amounts of vitamins and minerals.
- Corn syrup: a sweetener made from cornstarch and used in many commercially prepared foods.
- High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS): a sweetener made from cornstarch. An enzyme process slightly increases the fructose content, thus making HFCS sweeter than regular corn syrup. The glucose and fructose content of HFCS is similar to that of sucrose (table sugar).
Sugar and Your Health
Many people believe that sugar causes a variety of diseases, but there is no good evidence that sugar consumption per se is a significant factor in the development of heart disease, diabetes, hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), or hyperactivity. However, because eating a large amount of sugar can add many calories to the diet, it can contribute to the development of obesity, which is a risk factor for several other health problems.
Depending on the amount of sugar consumed, the impact on total calories consumed will vary. Eating one pound of sugar per week would add over 1,800 calories per week, which would have a significant effect on calorie balance. For many people, cutting down on sugar intake is helpful in decreasing caloric intake. Along with decreasing consumption of foods high in fat and increasing exercise, reducing foods with added sugars can be a significant factor in controlling obesity.
Sugar has replaced some complex carbohydrates in the diets of many Americans. Because complex carbohydrates are associated with other nutrients needed for good health, we are encouraged to include foods like beans, peas, and whole grain breads, pastas, and cereals in our diets. In order to increase our intake of nutritious high-carbohydrate foods without an increase in total calories, we must decrease the amount of sugar we consume.
9 Ways to Eat Less Sugar—Without Missing It
1. Utilize the new added sugar line on labels.
“Always check the Nutrition Facts panel to see how much added sugar is in a product—like cereal or yogurt—and compare it to other brands,” says University of Thessaly nutritionist and epidemiologist Renata Micha. “Between two or three options, you can aim for the one that has less added sugar.”
2. Target your weaknessess.
In the U.S., most added sugar comes from the following five sources: sweetened beverages; desserts and sweet snacks; sweetened coffees and teas; candy and other sugars (jams, syrups, toppings); and breakfast cereals and granola bars. Figure out which category you tend to get the most added sugar from and start cutting back there. You’ll get the greatest reduction in overall sugar and boost in health benefits.
3. Look for high-quality carbs.
Many packaged products—tortillas, granola bars—fall into a nutritional gray zone. They may be made with whole grains (good) and still contain lots of sugar (not so good). Even more stealthily, the front of the package may declare “no added sugars,” but the manufacturer has replaced this nutrient with something else, such as refined starches that have no fiber and affect your body in ways similar to added sugars. “So it’s important to assess overall carb quality, not just sugar alone,” says Micha.
One simple way to do that: use the 10-to-1 metric. This means for every 10 grams of total carbohydrate that a product contains, 1 gram or more should be fiber. (It’s based on the ratio of total carb to fiber found in whole wheat.) Micha and her colleagues discovered that when they applied this trick to U.S. supermarket foods, it quickly identified items with higher-quality carbs that also happened to be lower in sugar. And they were healthier in general—lower in sodium and higher in protein, fiber, potassium, magnesium, vitamin B , vitamin E, zinc and iron.
4. Don’t drink your sugar.
You know that soda is potum non grata, but other sugary beverages may slip past your nutritional radar. Coffee drinks like a bottled Frappuccino can have 34 grams of added sugar, and one 20-ounce sports drink packs as much as 48 grams—which is just about 100% of your daily limit. (For comparison, a can of Coke has 39 grams.) “Sports drinks serve a purpose for elite athletes, or let’s face it, when we’re sick with the flu or prepping for a colonoscopy. But for everyone else, just choose water,” says Nancy Farrell Allen, M.S., RDN, a national spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. And let’s not forget cocktails. Alcohol itself contains no or very little sugar, but when you add the coffee liqueur to your ‘tini—that’s when the grams can go through the roof.
By eliminating even one sugary beverage a day and instead sipping water with a squeeze of lime or orange for flavor, you can dramatically reduce your sugar intake—especially given that sweetened beverages are the single largest source of added sugar in the American diet, says Micha. You could also try drinking seltzer in fun flavors, infusing your water with fresh fruit or eating an apple or orange alongside a glass of ice water. We love the Strawberry, Basil & Lime Infused Water pictured above.
5. Take your time.
All of our experts recommend weaning yourself off sweetness slowly. Do you add sugar to your coffee or tea? Then use a little less tomorrow. A few days later, dial it back a bit more. Studies show that reducing sugar by 5 to 20%—equivalent to deleting about 4 to 12 grams daily—is not noticeable, and that over time your perception of sweetness intensity changes. In one trial, people who limited their sugar intake for 2 to 3 months rated pudding as much sweeter than those who did not.
6. Be wary of packaged bars.
We love the grab-and-go convenience of them, but granola and energy bars supply a lot of the added sugar in our diets. So scan for ones that are low in sugar and as minimally processed as possible (short ingredients list of recognizable whole foods). They often taste just as good and can save you 5 to 15 grams of added sugars (that’s between 1 and 4 teaspoons of sugar) per bar! Even better, put a handful of nuts, seeds and oats, plus some unsweetened coconut flakes and a few dark chocolate chips (11 of them only have 2 grams of added sugar) in a travel container for a snack that’s packed with nutrients, protein, fiber and very little sugar.
If you want to go above and beyond, make your own. It’s a great way to keep sugar in check and customize the flavors to meet your preference.
7. Swap your yogurt for skyr.
This Icelandic-style yogurt is made using different types of cultures than the standard kind you may be used to, giving it a thick, creamy consistency and less sour taste. And even the flavored varieties of skyr tend to have about one-third less added sugar than other flavored yogurts—which can be quite high in them.
8. Get enough sleep.
The average adult needs between 7 and 9 hours a night—yet more than 35% of Americans get less than that. Missing out on zzz’s can monkey with your hunger hormones, making you crave sugary foods (and salty ones too). However, in a review of seven clinical studies published in the Journal of Sleep Research, participants who increased their sleep duration—by anywhere from 21 minutes to 3 hours a night—had better insulin sensitivity as well as reductions in appetite, sweet cravings and sugar intake.
9. Bake with natural sweeteners.
Replace some of the sugar with mashed bananas or other fruits, unsweetened applesauce or blended dates, cooked sweet potatoes or prunes. This will also add moisture. “It’s a great way of getting some extra vitamins and minerals as well,” says Andromalos. “We used pineapple to sweeten our Pineapple Morning Glory Muffins—slashing the sugar content in half compared to similar muffins,” says Kanya. “And grating it incorporates the fruit into the batter.”