What the Research Says About Your Daily Sugar Consumption

Research has shown that eating too much sugar can have negative effects on your health, such as raising the risk of diabetes, depression, obesity, heart disease, certain cancers and gout.

While you obviously want to avoid too much sugar, it’s not clear how much sugar you can enjoy and still support your health.

According to a new study, there’s a research-backed limit you can follow for daily sugar intake: 25 grams, or 6 teaspoons. Here’s what experts say about cutting back eat sugar.

How Much Sugar Should You Consume in a Day?

To find out how much diabetics can enjoy the sun without having a significant negative impact on their health, researchers conducted a meta-analysis of available studies.

The researchers looked at findings from 73 previous reviews, which showed harmful links between sugar consumption and hormonal and metabolic diseases, heart disease, cancer, asthma, tooth decay, hypertension emotions and premature death.

Evaluation studies have shown that:

• Each increase in serving/week of a sugar-sweetened beverage was associated with a 4% greater risk of gout.
• Each increase of 250 milliliters per day of sugar-sweetened beverages was associated with a 17% higher risk of heart disease.
• Each increase of 25 grams/day of fructose intake was associated with a 22% greater risk of pancreatic cancer.

Based on the findings, the researchers recommended that people limit their consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages to no more than one per week (about a 12-ounce can) and maintain their daily sugar intake. less than 25 grams (about 6 tablespoons) .

What Do the Dietary Guidelines Say About Sugar?

Although the findings were based on observational data, they are in line with guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Cancer Research Fund, and the American Center for Cancer Research—all of which support a limit of 6 teaspoons per day.

“Reducing added sugar to 6 servings per day is not surprising at all because this has been the American Heart Association (AHA) standard for years,” Lauren Harris-Pincus, MS, RDN, founder of Nutrition Starring YOU, says told Verywell. “Eating too much sugar means we eat more calories than we need which leads to weight gain, or we are missing out on important nutrients because our food choices are high in sugar and the calories that carry the food we need to prevent the diseases of aging.”

How to Develop Good Sugar Habits

Experts have tried to focus their attention on education and support efforts to reduce the intake of sugar in children, since this group is particularly vulnerable not only to the temptation of sweets but the promotion of the product and the advertising that sells them.

In 2017-2018, the average daily amount of added sugar was 17 teaspoons for children and adults between the ages of 2 and 19.

Caregivers have an important role to play in not only keeping kids from eating sugar, but making sure they think and feel better about all the food they eat.

“It’s important for families to have a healthy relationship around food, while setting limits on sugar consumption for young children,” Melissa Mitri, MS, RD, nutrition writer and owner of Melissa Mitri Nutrition, told Verywell.

“When developing a positive relationship with food, it’s important not to say that food is ‘good’ or ‘bad’—and this also applies to sugar,” Mitri said. It is best to prioritize sweet foods such as fruit and encourage sugary foods in moderation as occasional sweet treats.

While it is important to start over to create lifelong habits, learning about nutrition and taking steps to develop a healthy relationship with food should be a family affair.

“The most dangerous approach is to identify one child who is overweight or obese and restrict sugar intake but not for other family members,” said Harris-Pincus.

Some specific ways that Mitri recommends to reduce sugar intake include:

• Swap high-sugar foods and drinks for “low-sugar” or “sugar-free.”
• Cook more meals at home, as pre-made and processed foods tend to have more sugar than homemade versions as you have more control over ingredients and finances. If you have children, make them part of the shopping and food preparation process.
• Learn with your family about healthy food choices. There are many books, food samples, and songs and games that can teach young children about making smart choices about what they eat and why it’s good for them to be encouraged to do so. .
• Instead of talking about food and weight, focus the conversation on how eating certain foods makes you feel.