WHO Recommends Only 5% of Daily Calories from Sugar
The World Health Organization (WHO) experts recommend only 5% of the daily calorific intake to be derived from sugar.
Though the WHO experts are of the view that the 5% cap on sugar intake is a little challenging, they do opine that keeping one’s sugar intake restricted to the recommended figures will keep a check on dental caries and obesity.
The organization’s nutrition director Dr. Francesco Brana, opines that as the 5% goal is tough to meet, keeping one’s calorie intake from sugar restricted to 10% is a more practical and realistic approach.
In order to meet the recommended levels, Americans will have to cut down their sugar intake by as high as 67%. There are a number of studies that single out sugar as the prime antagonist in the global obesity epidemic.
A way to cut down sugar intake is to look for food labels. Sugar is often guided under fancy names, such as fructose, high-fructose corn syrup, diastatic malt, and dextrose.
Some ways to cut down one’s sugar intake are:
- Eat your fruit, and don’t drink it; even worse if you drink packed juices.
- Water is completely sugar-free; have water instead of sugar-laden fizzy drinks.
- Bread has added sugars, too; restrict your intake.
- Bake your cookies and cakes; add only a third of the amount of sugar as recommended by the recipe.
As per the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, 92% of adult Americans have had tooth decay problems. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that over 37.5% of the adult American population is obese.
Such startling numbers are bound to come down, should Americans consider cutting down their sugar intake. Here is the detailed WHO report.