Sugar intake by age

Aah, sugar—the sweet stuff we all love to eat. But how much sugar should we eat a day?

The truth is that most of us eat too much sugar.

Sugar intake calculator

So, how can you balance your sweet tooth with your health? Read on to learn more about sugar, including the sources of added sugar, how much is considered healthy and what happens when you eat more than you should.

I Gave Up Sugar for 30 Days—Here's What Happened

Natural vs.

Added Sugar

Sugars are carbohydrates, and carbohydrates are the body's preferred source of energy. There are many types of sugars, including:

• Glucose: A simple sugar that is the building block of carbohydrates
  
• Fructose: Like glucose, it is another type of simple sugar found naturally in fruits, root vegetables and honey
  
• Sucrose: Commonly known as table sugar, it includes equal parts of fructose and glucose
  
• Lactose: The sugar that naturally occurs in milk that is made up of equal parts of glucose and galactose

When you eat carbohydrates, the body breaks them down into glucose, which is used

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