Understanding Nutrition Labels

How to calculate how much-added sugar is in our food and drink?

In accordance with the World Health Organization (WHO) no more than 10% of your calories should come from added sweeteners. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) food pyramid calls for a maximum of 4 tablespoons [48 grams] of sugar in a 2,200-calorie diet, which is about 9% of your daily calories. This works out to be between 30-60 grams of sugar daily for most people. However, Americans ingest more than 30% of their day-to-day calories from sugar, it is more than 6.5 tablespoons of sugar, and it is not unusual.

Find out how many grams are in a tablespoon

Is very important to understand how to calculate how much-added sugar is in our food and drinks, particularly with the increasing trend of obesity and overweight in Americans. When we think of sugar, we usually think of chocolate or candy. Though, many of our favored drinks hold just as much sugar as those candies, if not more. Oftentimes, nutrition labels can be misperceived by us because they only display information concerning a smaller percentage of the full drink. Consequently, we should compute and find what amounts of sugar we actually are consuming. We can utilize the following conversions to convert grams of sugar to tablespoon and teaspoon:

12 grams sugar equals 1 tablespoon [tbsp] sugar

4 grams sugar equals 1 teaspoon [tsp] sugar

For instance, one can of soda contains 38 grams of sugar and 140 calories. Dividing 38 grams by 12 grams [of sugar], we get 3.2 tablespoons of sugar. Dividing 38 grams by 4 grams [of sugar], we get 9.5 teaspoons. Therefore, a can of soda holds 3.2 tbsp or 9.5 tsp of sugar. Imagine scooping over three tablespoons of sugar into your mouth, doesn’t sound great at all, right?

Full Throttle Energy drink 16oz 

2 servings per bottle (8 oz serving)     

One portion = 110 calories, full bottle = 220 calories      

One portion (1/2 can) = 29 grams of sugar i.e., 2.4 tbsp

One, full can contains 57 grams of sugar i.e., 4.75 tbsp

Check out here how many grams in an ounce

Starbucks Grande Café Latte 16 oz

1 serving

One portion = 190 calories

One portion = 18 grams of sugar = 1.5 tbsp

Fruit punch Gatorade 32 oz

2.5 servings per bottle (8 oz serving)           

One portion = 80 calories, full bottle = 176 calories          

One portion (~1/2 bottle) = 14 grams of sugar i.e., 1.275tbsp    

One, the full bottle contains 52.5 grams of sugar i.e., 4.38 tbsp  

RockStar Energy Drink 16 oz

2 servings per bottle (8 oz serving)

One portion = 140 calories, full bottle = 420 calories

One portion (1/2 bottle) = 31 grams of sugar i.e., 2.6 tbsp

One, the full bottle contains 62 grams of sugar i.e., 5.17 tbsp

Snickers Bar has 230 calories; 30 grams of sugar that equal 2.5 tbsp. It appears that a Snickers bar has less sugar than a can of soda.

You can find many new lower-calorie snack foods on the market that are better snack choices, but you can still get your sugar fix.

Click here to find out how many ml in a pint