Sugar

littlebear0121

I'm looking for research -based recommendations on how much sugar to consume per day.

seska422

A good place to look for that would be somewhere like PubMed.

Finding research-based recommendations takes research. Be skeptical about which sources you trust.

AnnPT77

Both USDA and WHO have documents about nutritional recommendations, and they're about as mainstream and well-researched as you're going to get. They both explicitly address sugar. I don't have a link, but they're very easy to find with a good search engine - that's how I found them, when I was figuring things out.

In general, I'd digest what they say as suggesting that your best bet is to minimize added sugar, and not worry too much about inherent sugars in whole foods (fruits, dairy, veggies); and that you should make sure you're getting in adequate nutrition before indulging in significant amounts of added sugar (or alongside getting significant amounts of inherent sugar) where adequate nutrition is defined as enough protein, enough fats (especially MUFA/PUFA), and much more of fruits/veggies than most people tend to eat.

ETA: All of this assumes you're of normal health, i.e., not diabetic or insulin resistant. Special health circumstances have special rules, and you should be talking to your doctor and asking for a referral to a registered dietitian in that case.

lynn_glenmont

https://www.nap.edu/read/10490/chapter/8#320

Read and draw your own conclusions. My conclusion is to have as little or as much sugar as I want so long I am meeting rational goals for my personal overall energy intake, sufficient protein, sufficient fats (including EFAs), sufficient fiber, and sufficient micronutrients, within a varied diet that includes a generous and varied intake of plant foods, because over the decades additional research always seems to be finding new beneficial chemicals in plant foods.