Hello,

I would like to ask for your opinion on sugar intake. The WHO recommends a maximum of 50g, ideally 25g, of simple sugars, but this seems unrealistic to me. Two portions of fruit at 150 grams already add up to 30g, not to mention the inclusion of dairy products, vegetables, and other foods. I understand that this is an averaged value, but simple sugars are very often cited as the cause of various health issues, yet 25g of sugars is really a very low threshold.

Thank you.

Current recommendations from the WHO regarding sugar intake aim for a maximum of 90 g per day, with 50 g being added sugars, and there is consideration to reduce this amount to 25 g. When assessing the quality of nutrition, it is important to distinguish between naturally occurring sugars in foods and those added during processing. The fact is that fruits and fruit products (juices, compotes, jams, etc.) are the richest sources of naturally occurring sugars, so it is advisable to monitor the proportion of this food group in the diet. The same applies to the category of foods with added sugars, where there is a significantly higher risk of excess. This is one of the many meaningful examples and essentially a reason why it pays to monitor the nutritional quality of food, as numbers can sometimes speak clearly.

25 g of added sugars per day may initially seem like a low limit, but when converted, this amounts to 6 sugar cubes, which, when visualized in this way, takes on a different dimension than an abstract value. You are correct in stating that reaching this limit is not easy, especially in the long term. On the other hand, it is necessary to realize that this is a dietary component that we actually do not need and that does not benefit our health. This topic should lead to reflection on how strictly we will monitor the proportion of natural and industrially processed foods in our diet.

Themes:  Dairy products   Fruit   Vegetables   Sugars