The Recommended Daily Added Sugar Intake

The Recommended Daily Added Sugar Intake

Public health authorities continue to drop the upper tolerable limit of daily added sugar intake.

What does the latest research on Vitamin D say? Subscribe to NutritionFacts.org’s free newsletter to receive an infographic summary of the main takeaways and Dr. Greger’s recommendations: https://nutritionfacts.org/subscribe/

I recently spoke at a hearing of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Committee. Watch the highlights and my speech here: Highlights from the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Hearing (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/highlights-from-the-2020-dietary-guidelines-hearing/).

The sugar industry keeps pretty busy, as you’ll see from my recent videos: Are Fortified Kids’ Breakfast Cereals Healthy or Just Candy? (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/Are-Fortified-Kids-Breakfast-Cereals-Healthy-or-Just-Candy) and Sugar Industry Attempts to Manipulate the Science (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/sugar-industry-attempts-to-manipulate-the-science).

My other popular videos on sugar are:
· If Fructose Is Bad, What About Fruit? (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/if-fructose-is-bad-what-about-fruit)
· How Much Fruit Is Too Much? (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/how-much-fruit-is-too-much)
· How Much Added Sugar Is Too Much? (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/how-much-added-sugar-is-too-much/)
· Big Sugar Takes on the World Health Organization (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/big-sugar-takes-on-the-world-health-organization/)
· Does Diet Soda Increase Stroke Risk as Much as Regular Soda? (https://nutritionfacts.org/video/does-diet-soda-increase-stroke-risk-as-much-as-regular-soda)
· How to Stop Tooth Decay (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/how-to-stop-tooth-decay)
· Does Sugar Lead to Weight Gain? (http://nutritionfacts.org/video/does-sugar-lead-to-weight-gain)

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Thanks for watching. I hope you’ll join in the evidence-based nutrition revolution!
-Michael Greger, MD FACLM

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50 Comments

  1. Edine on October 7, 2021 at 8:56 am

    10% is still a lot. That’s 200 kilo calories. I can almost drink 2 small cans of coca-cola for that amount. (2×25 gram sugar)
    So under 10%, 9% maximum, is definitely doable. It’s ADDED sugars. Just cook yourself and don’t use packages and cans for everything and you’re fine.



  2. Argento Nomad on October 7, 2021 at 8:56 am

    The sugar mafia hard at work.



  3. J S on October 7, 2021 at 8:57 am

    I’m 18 and I eat about the same amount of sugar as the average teenager, but I hardly eat any added sugar at all. The majority of my diet is Whole Foods, I just eat a lot of fruit lol. Especially in my morning oatmeal.



  4. Alik Gautam on October 7, 2021 at 8:58 am

    I have been so obsess about eating healthy lately and I have been following your daily recommended deit for so long.One of my close friend sent me a video where a person was describing that how being obsess about eating healthy make her a victim of orthorexia. The symptoms that she had exactly match with mine. So, I am in a kind of dilemma now with what is going on and what I have to do.
    If this comment reach to you by any chance I will be so thankfull to everyone.



  5. VTVBeneno on October 7, 2021 at 9:00 am

    The WHO are all about health? Umm, how’s the handling of the Coronavirus situation in China? Wait just ask the WHO. Usually you’re on point with your research, but the WHO keeps showing ties to corruption based on money and government influence. The US of A unfortunately is not their money lords like China’ Communist Party. The WHO is not that innocently objective.



  6. rodibremo on October 7, 2021 at 9:01 am

    Daily added sugar= ZERO. No sugar at home, never…



  7. K M on October 7, 2021 at 9:01 am

    That was a wild ride, loved it.



  8. You Are The Universe on October 7, 2021 at 9:01 am

    Love this channel! LOVE IT! ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥



  9. Hanan Marfu'ah on October 7, 2021 at 9:01 am

    can give me translate from indonesia language??



  10. Neil c on October 7, 2021 at 9:03 am

    2 months ago I started whole food plant based diet and started daily exercise. Got my blood work today and LDL and triglycerides were amazingly improved. Try 231 to 113 and ldl went from 121 to 76. But my good cholesterol went from 38 to 34. Thank you dr Greger. Any recommendations on raising good cholesterol?



  11. cheddarpuff on October 7, 2021 at 9:03 am

    Dr. Greger, could you make a video about the difference (if any) between refined sugar and sugar from other sources like dates, figs, fruits etc.? That would be great! Thank you.



  12. nevadaxtube on October 7, 2021 at 9:09 am

    When you hear politicians defending corporate behavior and corporation profits at all cost, run the other way and vote them out of office. It is immoral to put corporations ahead of the well being of the citizens. People are more important period!



  13. Pamela Hollingsworth on October 7, 2021 at 9:10 am

    …what?…no treadmill, Dr. Greger?.. 😉🙂



  14. iCristalrose on October 7, 2021 at 9:11 am

    If they have 0 limit for toddlers then it’s suspicious why it is different for adults.



  15. Little Voice on October 7, 2021 at 9:12 am

    Why do we need any added sugar at all ? Why can’t we recommend no added sugar?



  16. Poifix on October 7, 2021 at 9:12 am

    Everyone knows refined sugar is not healthy. But I believe that sugar mostly becomes a problem when your diet also contains alot of saturated fat and cholesterol.
    The sugar itself is dealt with rather quickly, more or less like the glucose in carbs. However refined sugar should be avoided if possible. But a piece of candy once a week isn’t gonna hurt.



  17. Subhajit M on October 7, 2021 at 9:15 am

    If the sugar industry has so much power to ask US government to remove funding to WHO imagine the power of meat and dairy industry! No wonder FAO dropped their numbers of the impacts of animal agriculture on environment!
    It’s all about lobbying!
    Adding deforestation, 50% makes more sense!



  18. truefuschniken on October 7, 2021 at 9:15 am

    Love this!!!



  19. Saved By Grace on October 7, 2021 at 9:16 am

    Whole food, whole food, whole food.



  20. L. G. on October 7, 2021 at 9:20 am

    They use candy as a reward in school, even Kindergarten. Every year I talk with the teachers and my kids are the ones eating a healthy snack from home while the other little kids feast on mounds of sugar and food dyes at parties or other nasty processed snacks daily. I’m sure everyone thinks I’m mean. When it’s our turn to bring snack to Kindergarten, I love being able to provide something real and all but one child actually likes it and eats it!



  21. Albert Neville on October 7, 2021 at 9:21 am

    I wouldn’t be praising the WHO with their appalling reaction to the Coronavirus. They’ve been terrible.
    They are bad as the CDC, adjuncts to Big Pharma. All they want to do is stick needles in people and sell vaccines.

    "So who is heading the WHO this time around? Well, it’s not Margaret Chan anymore. She stepped down in 2017 and was replaced by Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, an Ethiopian politician and academic who, William Engdahl notes, is the first WHO director-general who isn’t even a medical doctor. Instead, after earning his degree in biology at the University of Asmara in Eritrea and serving in a junior position at the Ministry of Health under the Marxist dictatorship of Mengistu, he:

    “[. . .] then went on to become Minister of Health from 2005 to 2012 under Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. There he met former President Bill Clinton and began a close collaboration with Clinton and the Clinton Foundation and its Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative (CHAI). He also developed a close relation with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. As health minister, Tedros would also chair the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria that was co-founded by the Gates Foundation. The Global Fund has been riddled with fraud and corruption scandals.”

    Oh, you mean the Gates Foundation and their GAVI Alliance for vaccination that are the WHO’s biggest donors? The Gates Foundation that helped host the Event 201 “high-level pandemic exercise” in New York last October that war gamed out the entire coronavirus scenario we’re currently living through? Right."



  22. Kenz300 x on October 7, 2021 at 9:21 am

    Sugar and salt is added to almost all processed foods.
    The only way to avoid it is to eat a whole food plant based diet that you cook yourself.
    People need to speak up and let these food corporations know they want less sugar and salt added to their products. Email, tweet or call their customer service departments and let them know you want to eat healthier.
    They do respond to customers over time.



  23. Oswald Digestive Clinic on October 7, 2021 at 9:21 am

    Thanks for this video! For overall health and preventative care, it’s beneficial for everyone to keep added sugar under intake the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendation of 25 grams per day added sugar. This is the same as 6 teaspoons per day!



  24. Joe Caner on October 7, 2021 at 9:22 am

    Sweet revenge against the sugar industry.



  25. Dane Leva on October 7, 2021 at 9:23 am

    Imagine adding sugar all over your whole foods. What role would fibre play to slow down the harmful effects if any?



  26. Stefania Montemezzo on October 7, 2021 at 9:25 am

    I love when you’re also present in person on screen! Not that we’re not fond of your voice, of course. But seeing I’m you in person is better 😊 cheers from Italy



  27. M on October 7, 2021 at 9:26 am

    I just add dates to stuff. Tastes just as sweet



  28. Michael Adams on October 7, 2021 at 9:28 am

    Competition distills chaos and confusion.



  29. peter simon on October 7, 2021 at 9:28 am

    Withdraw U. S. Funds….wow🤔



  30. David Cripps on October 7, 2021 at 9:28 am

    the perils of capitalism…..



  31. Paige Proffitt on October 7, 2021 at 9:35 am

    💚💚💚



  32. Xia Shi on October 7, 2021 at 9:38 am

    Thanks for the info Dr. Greger. My husband has been having sugar addiction, I call it , because he wants to eat a dessert/bread/sweet around 30-40g of sugar each serving. Drink Alcohol with sweet too lately. He did Laser Surgery for enlarging Prostate in 2019 . and my have been trying my best to educate him about the sugar and Alcohol negative affect to his health ,such as aging , damage cells, liver and bad for his Prostate….however; he refused to listen. Would you please make a video regarding sugar addiction, it’s It’s damaging property and Prostate health? He already became Incompetent ; he said it himself because we used to make love 2-4 times a day, whereas after the Surgery I am lucky if he can preform 8-10times a year. And it only last about 1-2 minutes . I need your help. Thanks!



  33. Doug bananaboy on October 7, 2021 at 9:38 am

    Sugar consumption down 14 percent in last 20 years . Obesity up .



  34. The DJ on October 7, 2021 at 9:38 am

    I find it very funny that everyone sees the actions of the sugar industry as extremely corrupt yet when animal agriculture industries do the exact same thing but also worse suddenly there are trillions of excuses. How do these people even exist with their contradictory nonsensical logic? Seriously, we’ve beaten natural selection.



  35. Éanna Doyle on October 7, 2021 at 9:41 am

    Why is sugar unhealthy?



  36. durianrider on October 7, 2021 at 9:41 am

    ‘Sugar is bad but fruit is good!!’ What a blatant contradiction lol. What next? Arsenic in food is ok but added arsenic is bad! No wonder greger fans are so out of shape and confused.



  37. charathcutestory on October 7, 2021 at 9:42 am

    all vegan food IS sugar (or fiber) 🌱 🥼



  38. Discursion on October 7, 2021 at 9:43 am

    That last argument about the WHO only being concerned with health… they can just as well be corrupted. They’ve demonstrated that pretty neatly in the last month.



  39. Rei Cejiru on October 7, 2021 at 9:45 am

    Bro, you are a super hero in this shitty society! This man changed my life, pls listen to him. U won’t regret it



  40. Zack 4 eco on October 7, 2021 at 9:45 am

    r u okay sir ?



  41. Fer Ravenclaw on October 7, 2021 at 9:46 am

    I like the financial crises diet idea… or "best diet on a budget". Could you, pleaseee?



  42. Devine Massage on October 7, 2021 at 9:46 am

    Actually, percentage #s are confusing. Especially for people who don’t plan their own meals & don’t know if their sugar intake will meet the percentage guidelines or exceed them.

    I saw a BBC documentary about sugar intake in the past few years. The recommendation was no more than 24 grams (6 teaspoons) of added sugar for women & no more than 32 grams (8 teaspoons) for men. I’ve been following those guidelines (mostly) since. Gotta satisfy my sweet tooth sometimes so I don’t turn into the sweet monster. (Like cookie monster, but encompasses all things sweet).



  43. Isaac Alva on October 7, 2021 at 9:47 am

    Why can you not talk CLEARLY?
    You drag your vowels, mumble the spaces between words, etc.
    PLEASE!!! I love your channel but if I could only understand it



  44. Metodi Sterjov on October 7, 2021 at 9:49 am

    Carbs = Sugar. You need to count the carbs. Rice, Pasta, Bread they dont have sugar but it converts in sugar in minutes. Only fiber its ok. Keep your blood glucose low and you will end the inflametion.



  45. J. S on October 7, 2021 at 9:49 am

    I add Amla powder to my add sugar foods (jelly’s/sugary juices), or add fresh berries, i like to think that helps blunt the blood sugar spike?



  46. Micah Landon-Lane on October 7, 2021 at 9:50 am

    How do semi-refined sugars shape up regarding dental health etc? I’m thinking maple syrup, agave, raw sugar, coconut nectar…



  47. Peter Kuskis on October 7, 2021 at 9:50 am

    I enjoy adding a spoon of raw honey to my morning oatmeal with cinnamon, apple, and berries, instead of all the brown sugar I used to add to it as a kid.



  48. NutritionFacts.org on October 7, 2021 at 9:50 am

    I recently spoke at a hearing of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Committee. Watch the highlights and my speech here: https://nutritionfacts.org/video/highlights-from-the-2020-dietary-guidelines-hearing/



  49. Mike Symth on October 7, 2021 at 9:51 am

    Instead of telling us the politics of sugar and the anecdotal "sugar is bad for you". Why don’t you present the science of why to much sugar is bad for you? Also what about Dr Kempner’s sugar and rice diet that cured obose people of type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure? Surely sugar wasn’t bad for them!



  50. Vegan Linked on October 7, 2021 at 9:52 am

    I am surprised that you did not mention the upper limit established by the Institute of medicine for added sugar is being 25% of total calories. It should be that the UL is 10%. I can’t imagine consuming that much sugar I never add sugar to anything and eat almost entirely Whole Foods at home. As soon as I eat something with added sugar in it I can feel it eating away at my gums. I’m curious about Sugar’s role in cancer here lately. I have a friend who may have cancer I discovered recently and he was inquiring with me about it. I know back in 2016 there was a lot of talk about starving cancer by restricting sugar intake. I haven’t looked into it very deep yet but I’m planning on it, all I’m seeing thus far is metabolic complications such as dyslipidemia, insulin resistance which really doesn’t make sense, and increased visceral adiposity, a form of corpulence, a fancy way of saying obesity, an attempt at politely saying super fat. That’s one thing I like about McDougal, he sure is blunt, lol. But you’re my all-time hero man keep up the great work as always and look forward to seeing you this month in Charlotte and maybe even Savannah!