Sugar comes in many forms and from many sources. Cane sugar, sugar beets, maple trees, agave plant, and those gracious bees utilizing flower nectar to produce honey are the most well-known.

With the changes to the dietary guidelines asking you to limit your intake of sugar, what is your best option to choose? Of course this is a personal preference. But, remember this fact from the USDA as you begin your contemplation: the average person consumes about 150 to 170 pounds of sugar each year! This is an average, and maybe you do not eat that much sugar personally, but it is obvious that in general, Americans do tend to overconsume sugar.

So, here are the sources broken down:

Sugar-is derived either from processing sugar beets or sugar cane and is the generalized name for sweet, short-chain, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. They are carbohydrates, composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. The table or granulated sugar most customarily used as food is sucrose, a disaccharide. (In the body, sucrose hydrolyses into fructose and glucose and the other disaccharides include maltose and lactose.) The average person consumes about 53 pounds of sugar each year. Sugar contains 16 calories per teaspoon.

Syrup-Pure Maple- derived from boiling the sap of the maple tree, it has a strong distinct flavor. Can be used in baking and sauces. It contains 17 calories per teaspoon. Due to the strong flavor, decrease the amount used by one fourth of a cup per cup of sugar called for in the recipe.

Agave- derived from the agave plant, produces a sweet nectar that is processed into the agave syrup that is twice as sweet as sugar, so the tendency is to use less. It is not as thick as traditional syrup. It contains 20 calories per teaspoon. It is a LOW glycemic index sweetener—it DOES NOT make blood sugar spike. Because agave is so sweet, you tend to use less, but it is a processed food.

Honey- bees produce this, utilizing the nectar of flowers and is a natural source of antioxidants. Honey contains 21 calories per teaspoon. It is thicker and because of this people tend to use less when compared to sugar. It is not safe for children under the age of 12 months and under to consume honey due to potential contaminants in the product.

With this information, you can choose your preferred source of sugar. The new 2015-2020 dietary guidelines recommend no more than 10% of the daily intake of calories be derived from added sugars. So, remember Americans tend to overconsume when it comes to sugar, so sweeten sparingly.

Sources: The Arthritis Foundation, Sugar.org, USDA.gov, and health.gov

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