The government just proposed a sea change to American diets - and one industry is furious
As part of the new recommendations, reported by the New York Times, the association also wants to change nutrition labels to differentiate between two kinds of sugar in food and drinks:
- That which is naturally occurring (like the kind in a super-sweet peach or honey crisp apple)
- That which is added in the production process (like the corn syrup added to soda, sports drinks, and many cereals)
Soda companies are less than pleased, however.
"Metabolically speaking, our bodies don't differentiate between added and natural sugars," Kris Sollid, a dietitian who is one of the study's authors and director of nutrients communications for the International Food Information Council, which receives funding from food and beverage companies including Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, told the Times.
While that's true, there's a bigger reason the label tweak could be helpful for Americans who want to eat healthier, and it comes down to the makeup of natural and artificially sugary foods.
Many - but not all - foods that are high in natural sugars (fruit, milk, etc.) also happen to be high in lots of other nutrients, like protein and fiber. Both of these ingredients play a key role in how our bodies process that sugar. And this impacts our hunger and energy levels throughout the day.
While protein helps build strong muscles and keep us feeling full, fiber helps us digest and also keeps us satiated.
Say you drink a can of soda, for example, which has 160 calories, 50 grams of sugar, no protein and no fiber. The level of sugar in your blood (blood sugar) spikes shortly after you finish it - there's no fiber or protein to help round out the impact of the sugar.
This is part of the reason sugary drinks, like Coke or Gatorade, are called "empty calories" - they likely contribute to weight gain because they don't fill you up.
According to the CDC, roughly a third of all the calories Americans get from added sugars are from soda and sugary drinks. The other two-thirds comes from processed foods like snack bars, cakes, breads, and ice cream. Added sugars come in other sources too, included ketchup, salad dressings, and other snack foods.
Still, sugar isn't the sole villain responsible for unhealthy American diets.
Research shows that eating small amounts of any food - be it in the form of super-sweet peaches or cholesterol-laden eggs - doesn't result in problems. It all comes down to how much of everything we eat. And foods with very high concentrations of a few specific ingredients can be worrisome. A 20-ounce bottle of soda, for example, has roughly 65 grams (just about 16 teaspoons) of sugar.
So if you're thinking of completely cutting out sugar - think again. Research suggests a better solution is to watch where that sugar is coming from and how much of it you're consuming.