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Total, added, and free sugars: are restrictive guidelines science-based or achievable?
Jennifer Erickson1, Joanne Slavin2
1University of Minnesota, 1334 Eckles Ave, St Paul, MN 55108, USA. eric2472@umn.edu.
Nutrients
|April 18, 2015
Summary
New dietary guidelines suggest limiting added sugars to 5% of daily calories. However, current meal plans from the USDA and AND exceed this, indicating potential challenges in meeting these recommendations sustainably.
Area of Science:
- Nutrition Science
- Dietary Guidelines Analysis
- Public Health Nutrition
Background:
- Increasing concerns regarding high sugar consumption, particularly added sugars.
- Government and health authorities propose stringent sugar intake recommendations, often below 5% of total calories from free sugars.
- Lack of standardized definitions and accepted nutrient databases for total, free, and added sugars complicates accurate assessment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify the amounts of total sugars and added sugars in sample meal plans.
- To evaluate adherence to proposed sugar intake guidelines.
- To analyze the implications of current definitions and databases on sugar recommendations.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of sample meal plans developed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND).
- Utilization of the Nutrition Data System for Research (NDSR) nutritional database for sugar content assessment.
- Calculation of percentages of calories from added sugars, free sugars, and total sugars.
Main Results:
- USDA and AND meal plans averaged 5.1% and 3.1% calories from added sugar, respectively.
- Free sugar content averaged 8.7% (USDA) and 3.1% (AND).
- Total sugar content averaged 23.3% (USDA) and 21.1% (AND).
Conclusions:
- Achieving proposed added sugar recommendations (e.g., 5% of calories) may necessitate strict dietary adherence, potentially impacting sustainability for the general population.
- The absence of standardized definitions and calculation methods for added sugars renders recommendations arbitrary and risks reducing intake of nutrient-dense foods.
- Low added sugar compliance may be unrealistic for many Americans, highlighting the need for clearer definitions and achievable guidelines.
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