We all know that too much of anything is bad, and too much of sugar proves hell dangerous, but we do not know that that what is too much, right? So, here in this article on how many grams of sugar should you have a day will help you in finding the answer.
What Is Sugar?
Sugar is a sweet crystal-like element gained from a number of plants, especially from sugar cane and sugar beet, which contains sucrose and used as a sweet element in food items and drinks. It can also be be described as any of the categories of soluble, sparkling, typically sweet tasting carbohydrates found in active tissues and illustrated by sucrose and glucose is called sugar.
Types Of Sugar
There are two types of sugar. They are naturally derived sugar and the added sugar. Naturally occurring sugars are those that occur in fruits and milk. The most common natural type of sugar includes fructose, sucrose and glucose. However, added sugars refer to any food or beverages where sugar or honey has been added to make it sweet. They are universal and tough to ignore. Their common sources are candies, soft drinks, cakes, juices, etc. Most of the processed dairy products also include added sugars. Ice cream, yogurt and dairy milk also contain added sugars. Excess consumption of added sugars leads to a variety of health issues alternating from tooth decay to diabetes and obesity. Favored intake of added sugar type foods can end in inadequate intake of vital dietary nutrients.
How Many Grams Of Sugar Should You Have A Day?
Naturally occurred sugar is a part of any balanced diet. A rich diet includes natural sugar with a valuable amount of minerals and vitamins. These sugars do not create any health issue; however, the added ones are responsible for it. According to the American Heart Association, a woman should take twenty-four gram of sugar a day, i.e. six teaspoon sugar, less than hundred calorie of added sugar. A man should ideally take thirty-six gram of sugar per day, means nine teaspoon that is less than one fifty calories of added sugar. However, a toddler should take sixteen gram of sugar a day that is four teaspoons. A child between the age of four to eight should take twelve gram of sugar; it means three teaspoons per day. And a teenager should take twenty to thirty-two gram of sugar that is five to eight teaspoons daily.
What WHO Wants To Say About Sugar Intake?
According to World Health Organization (WHO), for an average two thousand calorie diet, a maximum of ten percent of the total calories come from added sugar. This compares to less than fifty grams of added sugar per day.
Factors That Influence Sugar Intake
There are varieties of factors that influence the amount of calories required on any particular day. Some points to consider while planning out a dietary strategy include:
Your Age:
Your age plays a vital role in deciding your metabolism. As we grow old, our metabolism naturally slows down. Eating the same amount of food at every age is not good and has different effect on our body. The same applies with sugar intake too. Eating the same amount of sugar at the age of sixty will have a different effect on our body compared to the same quantity when you were a teen.
Your Health Situation:
Few health situations affect metabolism, caloric requirements and weight of body. Those with underactive thyroid glands should avoid sugar because they are more prone to gain weight easily while those with hyperactive thyroid will tend to lose weight easily; so they can eat sugar normally. Diabetes has a different response to insulin. This hormone adjusts blood glucose levels, and diabetes can become unaffected to its effect.
Your Physical Involvement:
Physical activity and work out affect metabolism. The less you active are, the less calorie you need in your diet. The type of work or job you do also affects your metabolism and play a major role while deciding your diet plans. People with sedentary jobs should avoid sugar and high calories food while the persons who are more involved in physical work should include sugar and other calorie food in their diet. Persons with field jobs can easily burn calories and can stay fit without much effort. But for long sitting hours job people, even a candy at break cause a huge issue in maintain them.
Your Food Habits:
Some food items are easily available while some are not. So, if your diet includes fresh fruits and original milk, avoid using added sugar to take. But if you have not easy access to things that have natural sugar, add some added sugar in your diet to keep it balanced.
Your Individuality:
Every person’s metabolism and body type depend on their individuality and their genes. It is seen commonly that two people living together take same food items and amount of water but the effect on their body are very different. So, it is good idea to take help of your doctor or dietician to plan out your diet. Make ensure that your diet contains balanced amount of vitamins, minerals and protein and less unnatural sugar.
Reasons Why Added or Unnatural Sugar Is Not Good For Your Health
Consuming added or unnatural sugar in your diet is the one of the worst things that you are doing with you and your health. It can do harmful effects on your metabolism and leads to all sorts of health issues. Here, we are listing some of the disturbing reasons why you should avoid added sugar right now.
– They contain no health nutrients. They only a whole bunch of calories that only affect your body weight and lead it to worse. Unnatural sugars are also called ‘empty’ calories. They contain no protein, vitamins, minerals or essential fats.
– Added sugars are bad for your teeth too. They provide easily digestible energy for the bad bacteria in the mouth that result in teeth decay.
– Unnatural sugars are extraordinary in fructose that can surplus your liver. Like glucose, they are not produced naturally by our body, and there is no biological requirement for it. But if you consume added sugar, they produce in our body. There is no issue until we consume less amount of sugar or added sugar because in that case fructose gets metabolized by the liver in any significant amounts. But eating large amount of sugar lead to oily liver and all kinds of serious health issues.
– The overloading of fructose in your liver can result in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) that is strongly connected with metabolic ailments.
– Insulin resistance can be caused due to consumption of unnatural sugar, a treading stone-headed for metabolic syndrome and diabetes. Added sugars and preservatives allow burning of essential fat instead of glucose. The presence of excess glucose in one’s body is extremely toxic, and that lead to one of the causes for problems of diabetes and blindness. Eating too much sugar resistant hormone insulin that can contribute to too many diseases.
– They can lead to cancer. Yes, you are reading right, added sugar may lead to cancer. Insulin is one of the vital hormones to control cancer growth. For this reason, many doctors recommend avoiding sugar so that it can help in less amount of insulin level in one’s body. Also, another potential cause of cancer is the metabolic complications related to sugar consumption that is also well-known driver of infection. Several studies prove that those people who consume more sugar than normal are more prone to get cancer.
– Sugar is extremely addictive thing because of its huge dopamine issue in the brain. The issue with added sugar or other preservatives is that they can cause enormous dopamine release, much more than we were ever exposed to from natural foods. That is why; those who have a strong liking towards sugar and junk foods become addicted to them easily.
– They are leading donor to obesity in both adult and children. Sugar is a great recipe to gain weight because it affects the brain and hormones in way different from other things. Many studies found that the connection between sugar consumption and obesity has a strong connection. The connection with children is stronger because where each daily serving of sugar-sweetened brews is linked with a whooping sixty percent increased risk of fatness. If you want to lose weight, ignore sugar first.
– More consumption of sugar leads to obesity and that results in heart complications. Studies prove that excess amount of fructose can raise small, oxidized and dense LDL. Also, can raise triglycerides and blood glucose and insulin levels. These all are major risk factors to heart complications.
– For those who cannot tolerate a small amount of sugar, added or unnatural is really harmful to them. Empty calories are just the tip of the iceberg.
How Many Grams Of Sugar Should A Pregnant Woman Consume Per Day?
High consumption of sugar during pregnancy is risky for a would-be-mother and for her baby’s health. It is associated with weight gain, type two diabetes, arthritis, lowered immune function, bloating, obesity, gallstones, cardiovascular disease and breast cancer. It is the last thing that a pregnant mother needs because sugar is depleting, draining the absorption of vitamin B, calcium, copper, chromium and magnesium that a would-be-mother needs to manage her increased stress. Also, getting away with the bitter taste with the taste of the sweet or sugar force-feeds microbes in the digestive tract that is already exposed to infection due to maternal stress and leads to impaired nutrient absorption, gas, fatigue and diarrhea. These health issues are as relevant for our babies’ health as for ours.
Things To Care About Being A Pregnant Lady
– Set Your Goal Of Having Sugar A Day:
If you are pregnant and want a happy life for your would-be-baby, avoid sugar and consume alternatives for it. Also, eat less than twenty grams of sugar per day, it means approx. two tablespoons a day. But if you have any digestive issue then do not eat more than ten grams a day. It is better to use sometimes honey instead of sugar for health.
– Choose Food Accordingly:
Choose your food items according to the sugar level in them. Cut down consumption of those items that are highly involved in sugar and start eating products where you need less amount of sugar.
– Cut Out Juice And Soda:
Juice and soda have high amount of sugar and preservatives in them. So, avoid market or packed soda and juice and go for natural ones. If possible, try to make juice or sodas on your own at home or directly consume fresh fruits. They are much better than their juice.
– Try To Avoid Temptation:
Ignore tempting food products like candies and cookies. We know that these items, especially ice-cream and candies tempt you during pregnancy but it is really a good idea to keep them aside because it will lead to unnecessary weight and health issue and have no benefit of it.
– Understand The Things That Keep You Hooked On Sugar:
The above written point and this point are almost same but have some quite difference. Like, if you are too busy and do not get enough time to eat properly and are depended on tea, coffee, and cookies, start understanding this thing and look for alternatives. Yes, if you have less time you can go for salty things, like lemon water mixed with salt not with sugar or go for baked items but of salt.
– Be Nice To Yourself When You Are Avoiding Sugar:
Yes, sugar is the critical ease food item, and it is really tough to avoid or ignore it. So, do not be hard with your body, make it understand with patience and politeness. Think about all the wonderful things that you are doing to make your body well and fit.
