Baking (and eating) sweets became a pandemic habit for many of us. And while it may have been a great quarantine hobby, most people need to examine just how much sugar they’re eating. According to the Department of Agriculture, adults get an average of 68 grams (17 teaspoons) of added sugars every day-those added to foods, not the ones naturally in them. In contrast, the American Heart Association’s upper limit for women is 25 grams (6 teaspoons) a day; for men, it’s 36 grams (9 teaspoons). "Added sugars can easily add a lot of calories to your diet," says Frank Hu, MD, GlycoMode metabolic support chair of the department of nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, often without you realizing it. For instance, if you had a small Strawberry Coolatta from Dunkin’ as an afternoon treat and a bottle of Pure Leaf Lemon iced tea with dinner, you’d be consuming 400 calories-all from added sugars.

All that sugar increases your risk of weight gain and obesity. "And obesity in turn is a major risk factor for diabetes, heart disease, and some types of cancer," Hu says. Even for those who maintain a healthy weight, excess sugar can still lead to serious health conditions. The risks may be especially hazardous for older adults. " Hu says. A 2020 study published in the journal PLOS Medicine involving 70,000 women over 60 found that those who had more than two sugary drinks a day were 32 percent more likely to become frail than those who didn’t. When you eat table sugar-sucrose, which is a combination of glucose and fructose-it causes a quick spike in your blood sugar and in the secretion of insulin to help metabolize it. "If you consume too much sugar, your insulin stays elevated for extended periods of time," Hu says. That makes insulin less effective in controlling GlycoMode Blood Sugar support sugar, which can lead to diabetes.

In addition to table sugar, fructose is in high-fructose corn syrup (used in sodas and other sweetened foods). It’s metabolized in the liver, where it increases fat production and storage. The sugars found naturally in fruit and dairy products don’t have the same negative effect and are lower in fructose than sugary processed foods. "In fruit, that sugar is bound up in the fiber, vitamins, and other nutrients," says Andrea Dunn, a certified diabetes care and education specialist at the Cleveland Clinic Section of Nutrition Therapy. "And because the sugar is digested along with the fiber, it’s absorbed into the body more slowly." That means you don’t get the same spikes in blood sugar and insulin that you do after eating a food with added sugars. Trying to get down to the recommended level of sugar all at once can feel overwhelming. Follow this plan and you can easily reduce your sugar intake over the course of a few weeks while still indulging your sweet tooth on occasion.

Step 1: Know how much you eat. "Take a look at what treats you have during your average day, and be mindful of how it adds up," Dunn says. Notice habits you might be able to adjust-such as always grabbing a doughnut when you buy a cup of coffee in the morning, reaching for a sugary pick-me-up in the afternoon, and having dessert every night. Cutting out just one of those each week will help with your overall sugar intake. Then focus on how sweet your food tastes. "So many foods-even savory ones like bread and salad dressing-contain added sugars, and that’s trained our taste buds to expect that sweetness in nearly everything we eat," says Rachel Cheatham, PhD, an adjunct assistant professor at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy in Boston. As you cut back, "you may start to notice that things like cake taste overly sweet and that foods you never thought of as sweet-like carrots and apples-have a pleasantly sweet taste," she says.

As you become more aware of the sweetness in foods, your preferences will begin to shift. Step 2: Start reading food labels. Sugar sneaks its way into many otherwise healthy foods. Once you start paying attention you may be surprised to find, say, 5 grams of added sugars in a slice of Dave’s Killer 21-grain bread, 14 grams in a serving of Cascadian Farm Oats & Honey granola, and 11 grams in a 4.5-ounce tub of Noosa vanilla-bean yogurt. Other surprising sources include pasta sauce, salad dressing, marinades, barbecue sauce, ketchup, and snack bars. Choosing the option lowest in added sugars is an easy way to eliminate several grams of sugar a day. You won’t miss it, and that way you can save the sugar you do consume for something where it really matters. Know too, that added sugars go by many names, but your body responds to them in the same way it does table sugar.