Maybe Sugar IS the Devil - US Goverment Diet Recommendations

Equus5374 wrote: »

This is really nothing new. Sugar isn't the debil....TOO much sugar is.

^ Yup I agree.

I don't trust USA Today or the government.

Packerjohn wrote: »

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/01/07/federal-dietary-guidelines/77151060/

From the article:

"The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends limiting the amount of added sugars in our diet to no more than 10% of daily calories. That's about 12 teaspoons of sugar a day. To put that in perspective, a can of Coke contains nearly 10 teaspoons.

Most of us would have to make big changes in our diets to follow the new guidelines.

Americans on average get about 13% of daily calories from added sugars; teens get closer to 17% of calories from added sugars, according to the new report. The natural sugar in foods such as raisins, apples or milk are not considered added sugars.

Nearly half of the added sugars in American diets come from sweetened beverages, such as sodas and sports drinks, according to the guidelines, published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services."

So I crunched some numbers...

A tsp of sugar has ~15 calories. According to the article, 12 tsp of added sugar a day is the recommendation (ie - 180 calories). That's supposed to represent 10% of the diet; ergo the assumption is a diet of 1800 calories.

I wonder what percent of people eating SAD limit themselves to 1800 calories? My guess is not many.

Most of us would have to make big changes in our diets to follow the new guidelines.

Surely just cutting or substituting one can of Coke a day would put people well under the guideline?
Wouldn't call that a big change in diet.

As usual a journalist has to put a spin on things to make a headline.

I like the devil. Ergo I like sugar.

Jruzer wrote: »

If sugar was "the devil", shouldn't the recommendation be for 0% sugar in any form?

Only if Jesus is making the new guidelines........

PeachyPlum wrote: »

Not shocking.

Nothing inherently evil about sugar, but getting too many of your calories from added sugars means you're not getting enough of them from foods that also have other vital nutrients.

^This.

The recommendations don't mean sugar is the devil. It means sugar contains many calories. It means foods with many calories often contain sugar. Many in the US are overweight, this is because of too many calories. Ergo, by trying to make people limit sugar, they think they'll help people limit calories.
What they don't seem to understand is that many obese/overweight people simply won't care for new recommendations.

MarziPanda95 wrote: »

PeachyPlum wrote: »

Not shocking.

Nothing inherently evil about sugar, but getting too many of your calories from added sugars means you're not getting enough of them from foods that also have other vital nutrients.

^This.

The recommendations don't mean sugar is the devil. It means sugar contains many calories. It means foods with many calories often contain sugar. Many in the US are overweight, this is because of too many calories. Ergo, by trying to make people limit sugar, they think they'll help people limit calories.
What they don't seem to understand is that many obese/overweight people simply won't care for new recommendations.

You mean the general populace doesn't base their daily diet on the recommendations of a government bureaucracy?!?!?!

NO, just NO.
You need sugar.
Moderation in all things.
Overindulging in any food can be bad for you.

In all fairness, cutting out, or at the very least cutting back, on sugary drinks, and that includes juice, is probably not a bad idea, but trying to cut out all sugar, is a bad idea, and not possible or even healthy.

Jruzer wrote: »

If sugar was "the devil", shouldn't the recommendation be for 0% sugar in any form?

We don't have to be saints all the time! 10% sounds perfectly reasonable to me. I doubt I exceed that very often.