American Society for Nutrition – THE BEST OF NUTRITION RESEARCH
What’s the Difference Between Natural and Added Sugars?
Finding the taste of sweet foods pleasurable is an innate response. A child being fed puréed applesauce for the first time will probably show his pleasure with a big smile.
You’re not likely to see the same smile when Junior is eating plain oatmeal. You don’t have to fight this taste for sweetness. A modest amount of sweet foods can easily be part of a well-balanced diet. However, some sources of sugar provide more nutrition than others.
Your taste buds can’t distinguish between naturally occurring sugars, which are found in foods such as fruit and dairy products, and added sugars, which are added by manufacturers to foods such as soda or candy. From a nutritional standpoint, however, there is a big difference between these sugar sources. Foods that contain naturally occurring sugar tend to be nutrient dense and thus provide more nutrition per bite. In contrast, foods that contain a lot of added sugar tend to give little else. The calories in sugar-laden foods are often called empty calories because they provide so little nutrition.
Naturally occurring sugars – Sugars such as fructose and lactose that are found naturally in fruit and dairy foods.
Added sugars – Sugars that are added to processed foods and sweets.
Empty calories – Calories that come with little nutrition. Jelly beans are an example of a food that provides lots of calories from sugar but few nutrients.
Foods with Natural Sugars Usually Contain More Nutrients for Fewer Calories
Just one bite into a ripe peach, a crisp apple, or some chilled grapes will confirm that fruit can taste sweet, and not surprisingly, can contain more than 15 percent sugar by weight. There are many nutritional advantages of satisfying your sweet tooth with fruit rather than sweets with added sugar. Let’s compare slices from a fresh navel orange with candy orange slices.
Six slices of a navel orange provides about 65 calories, more than 100 percent of the daily value for vitamin C, and 3.5 grams of fiber, which is more than 10 percent of the amount of fiber that many adults should consume daily. These juicy slices also provide fluid. In fact, more than 85 percent of the weight of the orange is water. The hefty amounts of fiber and water make whole fruits such as oranges a hearty, sweet snack that provides bulk. This bulk can increase eating satisfaction, or satiation. When you eat fruit, you not only satisfy your urge for a sweet, but you will also feel full before you overeat.
In contrast, six candy orange slices provide 300 calories of added sugar and little else. The candy is quite energy dense. It provides more than four times as many calories as the fresh orange. However, as it provides no fiber and only negligible amounts of water, it contains a concentrated amount of calories in relationship to the volume of food in the serving. You wouldn’t likely feel satiated after consuming six candy orange slices. To consume close to the 300 calories found in the six pieces of candy, you would have to eat more than four oranges. It would be easier to overeat candy orange slices than fresh oranges.
Fiber-abundant whole fruits (and vegetables, for that matter) are not only very nutritious, but they are also kind to your waist, as their bulk tends to fill you up before they fill you out. In other words, it is more difficult to over consume calories from fruits and vegetables because you will feel full and stop eating before you take in too many calories. In fact, researchers at the USDA reviewed the diets of Americans and found that adults who ate more fruit had healthier body weights. According to the researchers, this finding may be due to lower-calorie fruit being substituted for higher calorie cake or other sweets on the dessert plates of Americans.
A fresh orange provides more nutrition for fewer calories and without any added sugars compared with candy orange slices.
Processed Foods and Sweets Often Contain Added Sugars
Between 1970 and 2005, our yearly consumption of added sugars increased by 19 percent. Sugars are added to foods for many reasons. In baked goods, they can hold onto water, which helps keep the product moist and soft. They help provide a golden brown color to the finished product. Sugars function as preservatives and thickeners in foods such as sauces. Fermenting sugars in dough produce the carbon dioxide that makes yeast breads rise. And of course, sugars make foods taste sweet.
Are Added Sugars Bad for You?
Sugar has been blamed for everything from hyperactive children to diabetes, but are these claims myths or facts? Let’s look at the most common claims:
“Sugar causes hyperactivity in kids.”Adults often point to sugary foods as the culprit behind the overly excited behavior of children at parties and holidays.
However, research does not support the theory that sugar makes kids hyperactive. The excitable behavior in the kids is more likely due to the festivities of the day rather than the sweets being consumed.
“Eating too much sugar causes diabetes.” Contrary to popular thought, sugar doesn’t necessarily cause diabetes mellitus, as discussed in the section, “What Is Diabetes Mellitus?”
“Too much sugar can contribute to dental caries.” This is certainly true, but so can other sources of carbohydrates.
Though these claims don’t hold up, a high-sugar diet has been associated with some real health risks:
Too much sugar in the diet can increase your blood level of triglycerides, the primary form of fat in your body. At the same time, it can lower the level of your “good” HDL cholesterol. Together, these changes may increase your risk for heart disease. Luckily, a reduction in dietary sugar coupled with an increase in dietary fiber can typically alleviate this problem.
Consuming too much sugar can make weight management challenging. Eating sugar won’t cause you to gain weight as long as you do not exceed the number of total calories that you need daily. However, it is easy to overeat high-calorie, sugary foods and quickly add excess calories to your diet. Moderation and balance are essential when it comes to added sugars.
Finding the Added Sugars in Your Foods
While sucrose and fructose are the most common added sugars in our foods, sugars can appear on the food label under numerous different names. Over the years, honey has been publicized in the popular press as being more nutritious than table sugar. This is an exaggeration. Honey provides a negligible amount of potassium, and it actually has more calories than sugar. A teaspoon of honey contains 21 calories. The same amount of sugar provides only 16 calories. High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), a sweetener produced from modified corn and composed of glucose and fructose, has also made media headlines because it has been blamed as a culprit in obesity. HFCS is less expensive than sucrose, and thus has replaced sucrose as the most common sweetener in processed foods such as sugars, sweets, and soft drinks. Based on current research, the American Medical Association and other major health organizations suggest that it is unlikely that HFCS contributes more to obesity than any other sweetener in the diet.
To find the amount and type of added sugars in the foods that you eat, read the ingredients on the food label. If added sugars appear first or second on the list or if the product contains many varieties of added sugars, it is likely to be high in sugar.
The Nutrition Facts panel that is currently used on food labels doesn’t distinguish between naturally occurring and added sugars. For example, the nutrition labels on ready-to-eat cereals such as raisin bran and dairy products such as milk list 21 grams of sugars for raisin bran and 12 grams for low-fat milk. This can be misleading, as the grams of sugars listed for the raisin bran cereal include both the amount of naturally occurring sugars from the raisins and the sugars added to sweeten the cereal. For the milk, the sugar listed on the Nutrition Facts panel includes the naturally occurring sugar, lactose. With the growing concern about the rising levels of added sugars in the diets of Americans, various health professionals and organizations have pressured the FDA to require that all added sugars be disclosed on the food label. A final decision by the FDA is pending.
As you know, added sugars come from many sources and are found in many products. In fact, most Americans don’t eat the majority of the added sugars in their diets-they drink them. The number-one source of added sugars in the United States is sweetened sodas, energy drinks, and sports drinks. This fact isn’t too surprising when you look at the size of the sweetened beverages that Americans consume. A classic 8-ounce bottle of cola provides almost 7 teaspoons of added sugars. In today’s vending machine, you are more likely to find a 12-ounce can or a 20-ounce bottle. People typically consume the entire can or bottle, regardless of its size, so they consume more sugar. In addition to beverages, added sugars are hidden in many other foods.
Finding Added Sugars on the Label
(a) Sugar can be called a number of different names on ingredients lists and labels.
(b) A food is likely to contain a large amount of sugar if added sugars appear first or second on the ingredients list and/or if many varieties of added sugars are listed. You can also look on the
Nutrition Facts panel to see the total grams of sugar.
Ingredients: Granola (whole grain rolled oats, sugar, rice flour, whole grain rolled wheat, partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oils* with TBHQ and citric acid added to preserve freshness and/or sunflower oil with natural tocopherol added to preserve freshness, whole wheat flour, molasses, sodium bicarbonate, soy lecithin, caramel color, barley malt, salt, nonfat dry milk), corn syrup, crisp rice (rice, sugar, salt, barley malt), semisweet chocolate chunks (sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanillin [an artificial flavor]), sugar, corn syrup solids, glycerin, high-fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated soybean and/or cottonseed oil*, sorbitol, fructose. calcium carbonate, natural and artificial flavors, salt, soy lecithin, molasses, water, BHT (a preservative), citric acid.
* Adds a dietary insignificant amount of trans fat.
Food Label: Find the Carbohydrates What is a carbohydrate? Can you find them on food labels? Visit www.pearsonhighered.com/blake and complete this interactive NutriTools activity.
Where Are All These Added Sugars Coming From?
Sodas, energy drinks, and sports drinks are the number-one source of added sugars in American diets. Desserts, candy, fruit drinks, and some grains are also sources of added sugars.
Source: Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010.
The Many Sizes of Soft Drinks
A bottle or can of soda can provide from 6 to 17 teaspoons of added sugars, depending on the size of the container.
Table Tips
Lowering Your Added Sugars
Mix chocolate milk with an equal amount of regular low-fat milk.
Mix equal amounts of sweetened cereal with an unsweetened variety for a breakfast cereal with half the added sugar.
Drink water rather than soda or sweetened beverages throughout the day.
Buy sweets such as candy and cookies in individual serving sizes rather than large packages. The less you buy, the less you’ll eat.
Choose canned fruit packed in juice rather than syrup
Honey
Honey should never be given to children younger than one year of age, as it may contain spores of Clostridium botulinum. These spores can germinate in the immature digestive tracts of babies and cause deadly botulism. Adults do not face this risk.
