It’s true, yes, we as Americans eat more sugar than we should—about 19½ teaspoons per day (that's 82 grams), which adds up to 66 pounds a year. That’s about 2 to 3 times what’s recommended, depending on your daily calorie limits. And so it’s wise that we limit sugar-laden foods (Feeling like you need to break your sugar habit? Here are 3 tips).
But, not all sugar is exactly the same. So when a recent HuffPost article made the claim that certain healthy breakfast items had more sugar than a donut, we weren't terribly surprised to see them insinuating that you should trade your banana at breakfast for a donut. Here's why:
HuffPost’s piece pointed out that one yellow-skinned fruit has five grams more of the sweet stuff.
But what HuffPost glazed over (pun intended) is that number is total sugar. And 100% of the sugar in the banana is natural. It’s called fructose.
Those natural sugar grams don’t count towards your daily sugar limit. But added sugars—which are the ones in a donut—are the kind you need to watch and curb back on.
Added sugars are, well, added to foods and drinks during processing and preparation. In fact, sugar is added to 68% of packaged foods and drinks in the U.S. So, compare the added sugar in a donut versus a banana and here’s how it shakes out:
Why is that difference important? Eat a banana and you’ll get a good hit of fiber and potassium, as well as other key vitamins and minerals. A donut contains what we call “empty calories”—there’s not much in the way of nutritional value. This particular donut delivers 30% (6g) of your daily limit for saturated fat and 330mg sodium (or 15% of your day’s total), without any good-for-you vitamins or minerals.
But wait: I’m not here to suck all of the sweet, indulgent fun out of life. Go ahead, enjoy a donut on occasion. (I have my moments, too!) Just don’t think that sticky, sugary, glazed, goodness is actually a healthier choice than a banana (or that pizza is healthier than Raisin Bran, or that any junk food is better than a whole food). And—perhaps the most important takeaway here is—when you track your sugar intake—pay attention to added sugars.
It's true, yes, we as Americans eat more sugar than we should—about 19½ teaspoons per day (that's 82 grams), which adds up to 66 pounds a year. That's about 2 to 3 times what's recommended, depending on your daily calorie limits.
Your average banana contains around 23g of carbohydrates, including 2.6g of fiber and 12g of simple sugars. If you were to measure out the equivalent amount of granulated sugar (about six teaspoons) with 23g of carbohydrate, it would contain 23 g of pure sugar.
You may have heard not to eat bananas because they can contain as much or more sugar than a donut. Sure, that may be true, but they also contain soluble fiber to help your body digest sugar more slowly and boost your gut health, and potassium to help keep your blood pressure in check and your heart healthy.
Doughnuts will cost you 250 to 550 calories, but the 15 to 30 grams of sugar in each is the real problem. With such a huge amount of sugar in a small package, your body pumps out loads of insulin to try to accommodate. A huge blood sugar spike leads to an even bigger sugar crash.
This allows you to reduce sugar in recipes by two tablespoons of banana for every tablespoon of sugar you leave out, as a rule of thumb. A ripe, mashed banana can also be used as a substitute for fats in a recipe, like butter or oil.
They're full of important nutrients, but eating too many could do more harm than good. Too much of any single food may contribute to weight gain and nutrient deficiencies. One to two bananas daily are considered a moderate intake for most healthy people.
Eating one banana per day is a healthy option. But since most of the calories in bananas come from carbs, eating too many bananas may result in high sugar intake, which could lead to high blood pressure.
Takeaway. A person with diabetes should include a variety of fresh, whole foods in their diet, such as nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables. Bananas are a safe and nutritious fruit for people with diabetes to eat in moderation as part of a balanced, individualized eating plan.
Mushrooms, spinach, kale, soybean sprouts, celery, broccoli, cucumber, cauliflower, radishes, and asparagus are among the vegetables with the lowest sugar content available. Seafood, pork, beef, and chicken are all sugar-free. They're also an important source of protein and omega-3 fatty acids.
The sugars in donuts can become a risk factor for gum inflammation and cavities. And keep in mind that one donut can contain as much sugar as a chocolate chip cookie, or even more. The amount of sugar and cream in your coffee can likewise increase cavity-causing bacteria.
Men should consume no more than 9 teaspoons (36 grams or 150 calories) of added sugar per day. Women should consume no more than 6 teaspoons (25 grams or 100 calories) per day.
In fact, eating a banana late at night may cause a big rise in your blood sugar — and this could make your sleep worse. ZOE's scientists run the world's largest nutrition study, with over 50,000 participants so far.
This is because our body needs essential healthy calories which will keep our metabolism up. That way even if there is an energy dip in our body, this can be overcome by eating a high sugar fruit like a banana or sapodilla (cheeku).
Thanks to the easily accessed sugars, dates cause little to no digestive distress. This means you can feel okay eating them literally as you're walking out the door on a run or as midrun fuel. In comparison to bananas, you get a high amount of sugar in a smaller portion of dates, which I'm a big fan of.
For starters, 17 grams of sugar is actually much less than you'll find in most candy bars. A Milky Way Bar, for example, contains 35 grams of sugar. And remember, the 17 grams figure is only for a large banana—a small banana contains about five fewer grams of sugar.
Takeaway. A person with diabetes should include a variety of fresh, whole foods in their diet, such as nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables. Bananas are a safe and nutritious fruit for people with diabetes to eat in moderation as part of a balanced, individualized eating plan.
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