Welcome to Debate Club! Please be aware that this is a space for respectful debate, and that your ideas will be challenged here. Please remember to critique the argument, not the author.
Cut Added Sugars Recommendation from 10% of US Diet to 6%?
Theoldguy1
Posts: 2,454 Member
in Debate Club
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans advisory committee is recommending lowering the added sugars recommendation to 6 percent of daily calories, from 10 percent for the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Amerians.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/07/11/sugar-2020-dietary-guidelines/
From the article:
"The committee, a group of 20 doctors, registered dietitians and public health experts, recommends reducing added sugars to 6 percent of daily calories, from 10 percent. The previous Dietary Guidelines took a major step forward in 2015 by suggesting added sugars be limited to 10 percent of total daily calories, but leading health organizations, supported by science, have long argued that lower limits would better protect health."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/07/11/sugar-2020-dietary-guidelines/
From the article:
"The committee, a group of 20 doctors, registered dietitians and public health experts, recommends reducing added sugars to 6 percent of daily calories, from 10 percent. The previous Dietary Guidelines took a major step forward in 2015 by suggesting added sugars be limited to 10 percent of total daily calories, but leading health organizations, supported by science, have long argued that lower limits would better protect health."
0
Replies
-
This is in Debate?
I can't see how cutting added sugar is ever a bad thing. So I'll weigh in on the Agree side.6 -
This is mostly politics. Those percentages affect the bottom line of various sectors in the US food industry. Thus, the lobbying effort from this or that faction is immense.
A quick example. Sometime ago, the US government was thinking of adding the number of added sugar in the labels of foods, using teaspoons as the measurement, instead of grams. You can imagine how the industry felt about that..
Here is a LWT video on it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MepXBJjsNxs
0 -
Here's an article you may find interesting too. To be honest, I lost interest half way
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/09/28/the-race-to-redesign-sugar1 -
The WHO recommendation is below 10% but below 5% is better, so this seems inline with that.
IMO, if you eat so much added sugar that you have to keep track of it to make sure it's under 5% or 10%, then that's more of an issue. I also tend to think of it as more of an average -- on many days I eat none or just a very few grams, so if I have a day where I have more it fits in overall.
I wouldn't find teaspoons especially useful vs grams, since everything else is in grams and I know that 1 gram of sugar = 4 cals.3 -
cmriverside wrote: »This is in Debate?
I can't see how cutting added sugar is ever a bad thing. So I'll weigh in on the Agree side.
I can see why you’d think this, but by this argument they might as well say the new guideline for sugar consumption is 0% of dietary intake.
But you can obviously see this isn’t helpful. Traces of sugar may be unavoidable, and guidelines are supposed to give some idea for most regular folks to understand what level of sugar consumption is acceptable. 10% is a good ballpark because it’s a number you can remember and conveys useful information. For example, people know that they shouldn’t be relying on processed sugar like candy and ice cream as their main source of nutrition, but it would be acceptable to have a small dessert.
6% is not *as* easily remembered and it might be perceived as a suggestion that sugar should never be consumed unless you consume foods that are accompanied by condiments like ketchup.1 -
cmriverside wrote: »This is in Debate?
I can't see how cutting added sugar is ever a bad thing. So I'll weigh in on the Agree side.
I can see why you’d think this, but by this argument they might as well say the new guideline for sugar consumption is 0% of dietary intake.
But you can obviously see this isn’t helpful. Traces of sugar may be unavoidable, and guidelines are supposed to give some idea for most regular folks to understand what level of sugar consumption is acceptable. 10% is a good ballpark because it’s a number you can remember and conveys useful information. For example, people know that they shouldn’t be relying on processed sugar like candy and ice cream as their main source of nutrition, but it would be acceptable to have a small dessert.
6% is not *as* easily remembered and it might be perceived as a suggestion that sugar should never be consumed unless you consume foods that are accompanied by condiments like ketchup.
But you missed the whole point of the thread - it was not to reduce ALL sugars, just ADDED sugars.6 -
There are somewhat healthy sources of sugars. For exemple maple syrup contains various vitamins and minerals and it is also high in antioxidants. Same with honey. I implement those in my diet but I understand it's not what the average American consumes.
2 -
I think we should get down to 10% first, before attempting to more than half the current consumption.
https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/special-issues/eating/sweet-stuff
...About 15% of the calories in the American adult diet now come from added sugars.3 -
There are somewhat healthy sources of sugars. For exemple maple syrup contains various vitamins and minerals and it is also high in antioxidants. Same with honey. I implement those in my diet but I understand it's not what the average American consumes.
Those aren't considered added sugars.1 -
kshama2001 wrote: »I think we should get down to 10% first, before attempting to more than half the current consumption.
https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/special-issues/eating/sweet-stuff
...About 15% of the calories in the American adult diet now come from added sugars.
Why sugarcoat (no pun intended) if the goal needs to be 6% why put it out that 10% is okay?0 -
The debate should be.................do I have to cut out Almond M&M's?
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
4 -
Theoldguy1 wrote: »There are somewhat healthy sources of sugars. For exemple maple syrup contains various vitamins and minerals and it is also high in antioxidants. Same with honey. I implement those in my diet but I understand it's not what the average American consumes.
Those aren't considered added sugars.
If honey or maple syrup are added to foods, they are considered added sugar for the purposes of FDA labeling. They aren't required to *list* added sugars on their label when they're sold alone, but that's because they ARE sugar and no additional sugar is being added to them.8 -
Theoldguy1 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »I think we should get down to 10% first, before attempting to more than half the current consumption.
https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/special-issues/eating/sweet-stuff
...About 15% of the calories in the American adult diet now come from added sugars.
Why sugarcoat (no pun intended) if the goal needs to be 6% why put it out that 10% is okay?
For some people, if they view a goal as "too hard" they blow off the whole concept.
Have you eaten at 6 or 10%?2 -
There are somewhat healthy sources of sugars. For exemple maple syrup contains various vitamins and minerals and it is also high in antioxidants. Same with honey. I implement those in my diet but I understand it's not what the average American consumes.Theoldguy1 wrote: »Those aren't considered added sugars.janejellyroll wrote: »If honey or maple syrup are added to foods, they are considered added sugar for the purposes of FDA labeling. They aren't required to *list* added sugars on their label when they're sold alone, but that's because they ARE sugar and no additional sugar is being added to them.
Agreeing with Jane - they're only not considered added on THEIR labels, but when added to other foods, they are indeed added sugars.5 -
kshama2001 wrote: »Theoldguy1 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »I think we should get down to 10% first, before attempting to more than half the current consumption.
https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/special-issues/eating/sweet-stuff
...About 15% of the calories in the American adult diet now come from added sugars.
Why sugarcoat (no pun intended) if the goal needs to be 6% why put it out that 10% is okay?
For some people, if they view a goal as "too hard" they blow off the whole concept.
Have you eaten at 6 or 10%?
I think this is a really legitimate point to bring up - if you make the goal lower, you increase the number of people who decide to not even bother because it seems impossible.4 -
kshama2001 wrote: »Theoldguy1 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »I think we should get down to 10% first, before attempting to more than half the current consumption.
https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/special-issues/eating/sweet-stuff
...About 15% of the calories in the American adult diet now come from added sugars.
Why sugarcoat (no pun intended) if the goal needs to be 6% why put it out that 10% is okay?
For some people, if they view a goal as "too hard" they blow off the whole concept.
Have you eaten at 6 or 10%?
Do we water down the goal of 100% mask adherence in areas where mandated because it may be "to hard", of course not, even though less than 100 % compliance is likely the result. The 6% sugar goal has been developed by experts in the field because, from research Americans, on average, are consuming too much added sugar with health consequences.
As to myself, I haven't strictly tracked and done the math, but I don't drink anything with added sugar, consumption of cakes, cookies, candy, etc. is very limited and I don't drench foods in bottled condiments. Based on my diet I'd say I'm in the 10% or less range and have been for years.
3 -
kshama2001 wrote: »There are somewhat healthy sources of sugars. For exemple maple syrup contains various vitamins and minerals and it is also high in antioxidants. Same with honey. I implement those in my diet but I understand it's not what the average American consumes.Theoldguy1 wrote: »Those aren't considered added sugars.janejellyroll wrote: »If honey or maple syrup are added to foods, they are considered added sugar for the purposes of FDA labeling. They aren't required to *list* added sugars on their label when they're sold alone, but that's because they ARE sugar and no additional sugar is being added to them.
Agreeing with Jane - they're only not considered added on THEIR labels, but when added to other foods, they are indeed added sugars.
As is something like concentrated fruir juice, in my understanding: "Added sugars include sugars that are added during the processing of foods (such as sucrose or dextrose), foods packaged as sweeteners (such as table sugar), sugars from syrups and honey, and sugars from concentrated fruit or vegetable juices". (https://www.fda.gov/food/new-nutrition-facts-label/added-sugars-new-nutrition-facts-label).
Not sure, but if I"m reading that literally, putting date sugar in another food product would not count as added sugar. (Date sugar is ground-up dried dates, quite sweet.)1 -
kshama2001 wrote: »Theoldguy1 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »I think we should get down to 10% first, before attempting to more than half the current consumption.
https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/special-issues/eating/sweet-stuff
...About 15% of the calories in the American adult diet now come from added sugars.
Why sugarcoat (no pun intended) if the goal needs to be 6% why put it out that 10% is okay?
For some people, if they view a goal as "too hard" they blow off the whole concept.
Have you eaten at 6 or 10%?
I've eaten at 0.2% and it was pretty easy once I got into it. The hardest part was starting, as time goes on it gets easier and easier. However it conflicts with modern society where there is abundant processed sugar all over the place.3 -
The WHO recommendation is below 10% but below 5% is better, so this seems inline with that.
IMO, if you eat so much added sugar that you have to keep track of it to make sure it's under 5% or 10%, then that's more of an issue. I also tend to think of it as more of an average -- on many days I eat none or just a very few grams, so if I have a day where I have more it fits in overall.
I wouldn't find teaspoons especially useful vs grams, since everything else is in grams and I know that 1 gram of sugar = 4 cals.
You always post exactly what I'm thinking but can't seem to articulate...2 -
The WHO recommendation is below 10% but below 5% is better, so this seems inline with that.
IMO, if you eat so much added sugar that you have to keep track of it to make sure it's under 5% or 10%, then that's more of an issue. I also tend to think of it as more of an average -- on many days I eat none or just a very few grams, so if I have a day where I have more it fits in overall.
I wouldn't find teaspoons especially useful vs grams, since everything else is in grams and I know that 1 gram of sugar = 4 cals.
Oh I'm sure it's meant to be an average over a period of time. A good sized piece of birthday cake with a scoop of ice cream would blow the daily added sugars way over 5-10% for the average person. But if this was a once every month or 2 thing and the individual wasn't going crazy with added sugar most days not an issue.
3
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.3K Introduce Yourself
- 43.4K Getting Started
- 259.7K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 387 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.4K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.2K MyFitnessPal Information
- 22 News and Announcements
- 902 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.2K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions