Added sugar

White sugar being weighed for a cake

Added sugars or free sugars are sugar carbohydrates (caloric sweeteners) added to food and beverages at some point before their consumption.[1] These include added carbohydrates (monosaccharides and disaccharides), and more broadly, sugars naturally present in honey, syrup, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates.[2][3] They can take multiple chemical forms, including sucrose (table sugar), glucose (dextrose), and fructose.

Medical consensus holds that added sugars contribute little nutritional value to food,[1] leading to a colloquial description as "empty calories". Overconsumption of sugar is correlated with excessive calorie intake and increased risk of weight gain and various diseases.[1][4][5] Individuals who consume 17%-21% of their daily calories from added sugar are reported to have a 38% higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease compared to those who consume 8% of their daily calories from added sugar.[6]

  1. ^ a b c Lindsay H Allen; Andrew Prentice (December 28, 2012). Encyclopedia of Human Nutrition 3E. Academic Press. pp. 231–233. ISBN 978-0-12-384885-7. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
  2. ^ "WHO Guideline, 2015, "Guideline: Sugars intake for adults and children, 2015", Geneva". 2015.
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  6. ^ Mackey, Christian; Plegue, Melissa A; Deames, Marian; Kittle, Matthew; Sonneville, Kendrin R; Chang, Tammy (January 2018). "Family physicians' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding the weight effects of added sugar". SAGE Open Medicine. 6: 205031211880124. doi:10.1177/2050312118801245. ISSN 2050-3121. PMC 6146324. PMID 30245821.