When it comes to the intake of sugar in the body, you can hear different things. The most common ones are that various types of "healthy food" (muesli, fruit yogurt, various healthy sweets, etc.) are full of sugar, as well as that the intake of one such food for one meal may be able to satisfy the body's need for sugar throughout the day.
But it's not just pure, white or yellow sugar. Besides sucrose, there is also glucose, fructose, maltose, corn syrup, hydrolyzed starch, invert sugar syrup and molasses. These are all types of sugar that are used in different ways in the production of food that we consume every day.
Experts in nutrition believe that sugars should not make up more than 5 percent of the total energy, that is, the intake of calories, which we bring into the body with food and drink during the day.
And that, approximately, amounts to 30 grams, or about 7,5 teaspoons of coffee, writes the British Metro.
According to a person's age, the table of daily values of sugar intake should look like this:
- Adults: no more than 30 grams / the equivalent of 7 sugar cubes.
- Children between 7 and 10 years: no more than 24 grams / the equivalent of 6 sugar cubes.
- Children between 4 and 6 years: no more than 19 grams / the equivalent of 5 sugar cubes.
- There are no defined values for children under 4 years of age, but it is recommended to avoid sweetened drinks and food with added sugar.
These amounts refer to free sugars, i.e. those that are added to food during the production process, as well as sugars present in honey, syrups and fruit juices.
Sugars that can be found in milk, fruit and vegetables are not considered free sugars and it is not necessary to pay special attention to their intake. However, these sugars are included in the total amounts of sugar listed on the declarations of the products that contain them, reports B92.
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