How much sugar can be consumed daily

A few years ago we echoed the importance of in our diet, and although it is true that it is important to control the amount, and especially the type of fat that we eat. More and more studies highlight the role of the sugar consumption about our health, both in the short and long term.

For all these reasons, at present it is putting sugar in the spotlight at the health level. For this reason, and because due to food technology, we consume many products that, although they do not seem sweet to us, contain a good amount of sugar, and that sugar also counts.

WHO recommendation for sugar consumption

It will soon be three years since the World Health Organization (WHO) published a document with recommendations and in adults and children, and made it very clear:

Maximum 25-50 grams of sugar per day

10% of the total caloric intake means that if we ingest about 2000 Kcal daily, the intake of free sugars should be a maximum of 50 grams a day.Although the amount can vary from children to adults:

• Adults: do not go beyond 50-60 grams and better if we take a maximum of 25-30 grams.
• Kids: do not go beyond 30-35 grams and better if they take less than 15-20 grams.

Example of a breakfast with too much sugar

If we have a coffee with sugar, juice and a bun with jam for breakfast, we will be consuming around 45 grams of sugar, which already represents the 90% of the recommended daily total up to date.

If we have breakfast cereals we are easily consuming about 10 grams of sugar or if we choose a fruit yogurt we will surely consume more than 5 grams of added sugar. So not everything is the sugar that we can add to a coffee or an infusion, there are many manufactured products that are sweet and contain very high amounts of sugar.

What Foods Have Sugar?

Seen like this, it might seem like quite a lot of sugar, but the point is that sugar It is not only the one that we can add to the food, is also the one is part of food processing (jam, pastries and cakes, fruit juices….

Also, it is found in many other products in which despite perceiving a taste acid, bitter or salty there is among its ingredients the presence of sugar and many times this content is not negligible at all. For example:

• Frozen lasagna bolognese: 3.9%, which represents 10 g of sugars per serving.
• Fried tomato: 7.5-7.9% sugars, in a pasta dish where we can put about 4-5 tablespoons of sauce, we are adding at least 5 grams of sugar.
• Canned egg ravioli with meat and tomato sauce: 5.5 g per 100 g. a serving of about 250g is 16-17g of sugar.
• Balsamic vinegar: 39-49% sugars, a teaspoon of 10 ml contains 4-5 g, it is easily seasoned with double or triple.
• Parmesan noodles (made from sachet): 3.4%, one serving contains 7 g of sugar.
• Brick vegetable cream: 2.2%, taking a 250 ml cup we are consuming 5.5 grams of sugar.

Hard to believe, right? But it is true, we only need to know the nutritional composition of the products we buy.

What you should know:

• It is advised that sugar consumption represents as maximum 10% of daily caloric intake, and if possible below 5%.
• This means that we should not consume more than 50-60 grams for adults and 30-35 for children. These are the maximum limits, it is recommended to eat less than half.
• To be able to follow these recommendations we must limit the intake of added sugar, restricting the amount of sugar we use and avoiding processed foods rich in it. Therefore, we must look at the labeling and make conscious choices.

Remember to take care of your family with him in order to be protected before any pathology and disease appear. Go to any of our medical centers and consult with our specialist doctors!

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Mercè Gonzalo Bachelor of Food Science and Technology Diploma in Human Nutrition and Dietetics