Sugar: The Not So Sweet Truth

Here at SPENGA in Littleton, Colorado we care about more than just RIDE, REP, and REVIVE; We also care about REFUEL. This part of SPENGA happens outside of the studio. Refuel is all about nutrition and is a huge component of meeting your health and wellness goals. This post is going to dive into the world of added sugars. In this article we will examine what sugar is, how much we are eating, how much we should be eating, the health effects of over consumption, and ways to mend our diets with more nutrient dense options.

There are two different classifications of sweeteners, nutritive and non-nutritive. Nutritive provide calories. For each gram of sugar, the body gets 4 calories.[i] These sugars are found naturally in foods like fruits, vegetables, and dairy products or these sugars can be added into foods during the processing and preparation. Additionally, the foods that contain natural sugars also contain nutrients, fiber, and water. Sugar is added to foods for various reasons such as for texture, preservation, structure, and flavor.[ii] Added sugars are not just found in desserts, sodas, and candy; these added sugars can be found in breakfast cereals, fruit snacks, granola bars, fruit juice, sauces, yogurt, and condiments. In the last few years, the FDA has regulated that food labels to now include not only the sugar content of foods, but also the amount of that sugar that has been added in. [iii]One of the important things about food labels is that they show the nutrition breakdown of the food by its serving size. When choosing foods for you day remember to eat to the serving size or remember to calculate how much added sugar is in the quantity of food that you did eat.

Another way to tell if the sugar in your food is added look for these ingredients: Brown sugar, molasses, corn syrup, agave, sucrose, or syrup. Though these added sugars provide energy in the form of calories, they do not always have the other nutritional components because they are lost processing.

Since the publication of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA)[iv] the recommendations for added sugars in the diet is to be to less than 10% of daily calories, and even less if you regularly consume alcohol. Since everyone has a different number of calories, they should be eating in a day it is hard to assign a range for what the average 10% is in terms of calories. The American Heart Association (AHA)[v] also has guidance on added sugars. Their guidelines are little stricter than the DGAs but in my opinion they are easier to apply to your daily intake. Their recommendations are also broken down into amounts for men and for women. WOMEN: <6 teaspoons which is equivalent to 25 grams or 100 calories. MEN: <9 teaspoons which is equivalent to 36 grams or 150 calories.

The table above shows some common foods and drinks and how many grams of added sugar they have. This list is not comprehensive or perfect. Each brand of food you choose may have differing amounts of added sugar.

*Foods that contain less than 5 grams of added sugar per serving are considered lower added sugar foods.[vi]

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)[vii] collects data on American eating habits every two years. In the 2017-2018 data set it was estimated that added sugar intake account for about 12.7% of total daily calories. Other estimates show the average American eats about 20 teaspoons of added sugar each day;[viii] In each teaspoon there are 4 grams of sugar. That means that on average we are eating around 80 grams of sugar per day!  WAY more sugar than either the DGA or the AHA recommends. In addition to all this the Center for Disease Control (CDC) sets goals every decade, these goals are related to turning negative health trends around. These goals are a part of the Healthy People initiative[ix]. For the Healthy People 2030 one of the goals is to decrease added sugar intake. The data set they complied has Americans eating 13.5% of their calories in added sugars. Their target to reach by 2030 is 11.5%, note that this goal is slightly higher than the DGA has set.

In a diet where eating refined and added sugars is in excess can lead to several detrimental health effects. The list below breaks down common health effects by body system when our diets are regularly filled with excess added sugar.

• Endocrine system: this is the system that controls glucose levels and insulin. This can lead to insulin resistance, a condition where our cells no longer respond to the molecule and are not able to bring sugar from the bloodstream into the cells to be used in metabolic functions for energy.
• Heart: high blood pressure, and increase risk for heart disease
• Liver: the liver can be overwhelmed when blood sugar rapidly changes. Over time this can lead to fatty liver and cirrhosis.
• Joints: pain due to excess inflammation that can lead to arthritis
• Weight gain: excess sugar typically goes hand in hand with excess calorie intake which in turn leads to weight gain, and that gain is usually fat mass
• Dental issues: we all know the drill (pun intended) here for cavities.
• Brain: Mood changes, cognitive decline, and cycles of sugar craving

When sugar is consumed in the diet our brains are stimulated through the reward and pleasure centers of the brain. This has been associated with the hormone dopamine and sugar can influence the body similar to some drugs. Because of this a little bit can become excess quicker than we anticipate. In a research study done in 2018[x] explored the reinforcing value of food and its relationship to consumption. In this study researchers restricted foods high in added sugar for one week. Foods that are sweet in nature like fruit and artificial sweeteners were also limited to avoid the sweet sensation during the trial period. After the one-week restriction participants were put through a series of games where they were rewarded with food either high in sugar or low in sugar, a savory food, the reward food was picked by the participant.  The main conclusion of the study was that when people are highly restrictive on sugar sweetened snacks, when they become available there is a greater tendency to get a greater quantity of the food, when compared to a group that was not restricted but educated on limits they should stick to. Based on this study there is a connection to outright restriction and overeating in the long run, whereas having a moderate intake will lead to overall better consistency in staying in the recommended guidelines.

5 WAYS TO DECREASE ADDED SUGARS IN YOUR DIET:

1. Read labels

In order to know how much added sugar you are eating you have to read the labels of the foods you consume.

2. Think before you drink!

Assess your beverage options, and how frequently you are drinking them. Is there an alternative that has less added sugar? Have you had enough water that day?

3. Portion control

If you know there is a food you tend to overeat, set aside a portion size and put the rest away. This way you have control over how much you are eating. This also saves you a sweet treat for later in the week!

4. Swaps

Find foods that you enjoy and see if there are alternatives that have a lower added sugar content. Even just a few grams less each add will add up in the long run. Try to incorporate more whole foods and less processed foods each day.

5. Eat a well-rounded diet

If you are eating enough whole foods, full of protein, vegetables, fruit, complex carbohydrates, and fats, you likely will not be as hungry throughout the day for foods high in added sugar.

Nutrition is an enormous part of fitness. What we feed our bodies outside of the studio effects our ability to spin, strength train and yoga in the studio.  When we eat well, we perform well, and we live well.

Written by: Rudi Santistevan MS RD for SPENGA Littleton

[i] Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Use of Nutritive and Nonnutritive Sweeteners Published in Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics 2012. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2012.03.009

[ii] https://www.sugarnutritionresource.org/media/attachments/2020/07/08/snrc_why-is-there-sugar-in-my-food.pdf

[iii] https://www.fda.gov/food/new-nutrition-facts-label/whats-new-nutrition-facts-label

[iv] https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/sites/default/files/2021-03/Dietary_Guidelines_for_Americans-2020-2025.pdf#page=56

[v] https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/sugar/added-sugars

[vi] https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/carbohydrates/added-sugar-in-the-diet/

[vii] https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400530/pdf/1718/Table_1_NIN_GEN_17.pdf

[viii] https://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/data-statistics/added-sugars.html

[ix] https://health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/browse-objectives/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/reduce-consumption-added-sugars-people-aged-2-years-and-over-nws-10

[x] Decreasing the consumption of foods with Sugar increases their reinforcing value: A potential barrier to dietary behavior change. Published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics 2018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2018.12.016