The American Heart Association (AHA) has revised it's recommendation from "minimize the intake of beverages and foods with added sugar" to "limit intake of added sugar to half of your discretionary calorie allowance, which for most American women is no more than 100 calories per day and for most American men is no more than 150 calories per day from added sugars."1 AHA has come to recognize that the average American's intake of added sugar is way too high (about 355 calories per day!) and that excess sugar consumption is linked to adverse health conditions (obesity, high blood pressure) and deficiencies in essential nutrients.

In a previous blog we define added sugars and explain how to recognize added sugars in foods and beverages. We also provide a link to a database that lists the amount of added sugars in over 2,000 common foods.

To determine the upper limit of added sugars you should eat/drink each day:

  1. Go to www.mypyramid.gov
  2. Click on MyPyramid Plan on the left navigation bar
  3. Enter your age, sex, weight, height, and activity level
  4. Review your results for the number of discretionary calories you should consume (under the yellow bar)
  5. Cut this number in half

Based on my 1800-calorie food pattern, I should eat/drink 98 calories each day from added sugars. That's less than one 12-ounce can of soda (~130 calories)! 

1 To read the American Heart Association's entire Scientific Statement: Dietary Sugars Intake and Cardiovascular Health, go to http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/reprint/CIRCULATIONAHA.109.192627.