The WHO New Recommendations for Added Sugar Intake

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The WHO New Recommendations for Added Sugar Intake

Postby JeffN » Wed Mar 05, 2014 7:07 pm

The World Health Organization has just announced that they are considering lowering their recommendation for daily sugar intake to be < 5% of total calories, which is 1/2 of their previous recommendation (<10%). In addition, the WHO is including "natural" sugars (honey, maple syrup) and the sugar in fruit juices in this.

"After a review of about 9,000 studies, WHO's expert panel says dropping sugar intake to that level will combat obesity and cavities. That includes sugars added to foods and those present in honey, syrups and fruit juices, but not those occurring naturally in fruits."

As many of you know, for over 2.5 decades, that has been my recommendation (< 5%), regardless of which sugar, which I have taught in my Label Reading classes and used in my various tiering systems. I also counted the sugar in "natural" sugars, fruit juice concentrate and fruit juice in this too.

In 2009, the AHA recommended a "prudent upper limit" for sugar intake, saying sugar should be no more than ~7.5% of calories, depending on gender and caloric intake, which came to roughly no more than 100 calories per day (2 Tbsp) for women and 150 calories per day (3 Tbsp) for men

https://circ.ahajournals.org/content/120/11/1011.full

From the same issue of JAMA
Medical News & Perspectives
AHA: Added Sugar Not So Sweet Mike Mitka
JAMA. 2009;302(16):1741-1742.
doi:10.1001/jama.2009.1534
October 28, 2009

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/a ... irect=true


Last week, The Lancent Diabetes & Endocrinology said fruits juices should count just like other sugar sweetened beverages and limited and not thought of as healthy

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/landi ... xt?rss=yes


And from the CSPI in 2013

CSPI Petition to FDA re: Added Sugars
FDA Urged to Determine Safe Limits on High-Fructose Corn Syrup and Other Sugars in Soft Drinks
February 13, 2013

https://cspinet.org/resource/cspi-petit ... ded-sugars

CSPI urges FDA to determine a safe level of added sugars for beverages as part of a comprehensive strategy to reduce American's dangerously high sugar consumption.

Unfortunately, with this attention on sugar, it seems everyone is giving fat, including saturated fat, a free pass.

It is not one or the other, it is both.

Jeff

New sugar guideline: less than a can of Coke per day
By Maria Cheng

http://www.mercurynews.com/health/ci_25 ... n-coke-per

Associated Press

LONDON (AP) -- The World Health Organization says your daily sugar intake should be just 5 percent of your total calories -- half of what the agency previously recommended, according to new draft guidelines published Wednesday.

After a review of about 9,000 studies, WHO's expert panel says dropping sugar intake to that level will combat obesity and cavities. That includes sugars added to foods and those present in honey, syrups and fruit juices, but not those occurring naturally in fruits. ...

Under the 5 percent guideline, a person who takes in 2000 calories a day would limit sugar to 25 grams. A 12-ounce can of Coca-Cola has 35 grams of sugar; one Oreo cookie has 4.5 grams.

Americans and others in the West eat a lot more sugar than that: Their average sugar intake would have to drop by two-thirds to meet WHO's suggested limit.

WHO's new guidelines have been published online and the agency is inviting the public to comment via its website until the end of March.

Many doctors applauded the U.N. agency's attempt to limit the global sweet tooth.

"The less sugar you're eating, the better," said Dr. Robert Lustig, a professor of pediatrics at the University of California and author of a book about the dangers of sugar. "If the sugar threshold is lowered, I think breakfast cereal is going to have a really hard time justifying its existence," he said, referring to sweetened cereals often targeted to children.

When WHO last revised its sugar guidelines more than a decade ago, it recommended sugar should be less than 10 percent of daily calories. The U.S. sugar industry was so incensed it lobbied Congress to threaten to withdraw millions of dollars in funding to WHO. A contentious reference to the sugar limit was removed from a global diet strategy, but the recommendation passed. ...

WHO's expert group found high sugar consumption is strongly linked to obesity and tooth decay. It noted that heavy people have a higher risk of chronic diseases, responsible for more than 60 percent of global deaths. Dental care costs up to 10 percent of health budgets in Western countries and cause significant problems in the developing world.

WHO warned many of the sugars eaten today are hidden in processed foods, pointing out that one tablespoon of ketchup contains about one teaspoon of sugar and that for some people, including children, drinking a single can of sweetened soda would already exceed their daily sugar limit.

There is no universally agreed consensus on how much sugar is too much.

The American Heart Association advises limiting sugar to about 8 percent of your diet, or six teaspoons a day for women and nine for men. A study led by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published last month found too much sugar can raise the chances of fatal heart problems. Researchers found the average American gets about 15 percent of their calories from sugar, similar to other Western nations.

New nutrition labels proposed in the U.S. will also require food manufacturers to list any added sugars, plus a more prominent calorie count.

Earlier this week, Britain's chief medical officer, Dr. Sally Davies, said she thought sugar might be addictive and that the government should consider introducing a sugar tax to curb bulging waistlines. The U.K. has one of the fattest populations in Western Europe.

"We have a generation of children who, because they're overweight ... may not live as long as my generation," she told a health committee. "They will be the first generation that lives less and that is of great concern."


My article on sugar...

Fructose, Sugar, Obesity and You!
http://jeffnovick.com/RD/Q_%26_As/Entri ... d_You.html
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Re: The WHO New Recommendations for Sugar Intake

Postby JeffN » Wed Mar 05, 2014 8:37 pm

To be honest, this is getting really annoying.

First my guidelines for salt/sodium goes mainstream, now my guidelines to limit all refined and concentrated sugars to <5% of the calories and my guideline to count fruit juice like other Sugar Sweetened Beverages as an added sugar are about to become mainstream also.

What's next?

If they say reduce cholesterol to <50 mg/day and keep saturated fat below 5% of calories then I might as well retire.

Where is the fun in telling people what will be just mainstream dietary advice?

:)

In Health
Jeff
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Re: The WHO New Recommendations for Added Sugar Intake

Postby JeffN » Thu Mar 05, 2015 6:19 pm

JeffN wrote:The World Health Organization has just announced that they are considering lowering their recommendation for daily sugar intake to be < 5% of total calories, which is 1/2 of their previous recommendation (<10%). In addition, the WHO is including "natural" sugars (honey, maple syrup) and the sugar in fruit juices in this.l



It now official!

Full Report

Sugars intake for adult and children
Guideline
Authors: World Health Organization
4 MARCH 2015
GENEVA

http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/149782/1/9789241549028_eng.pdf?ua=1


"The World Health Organization’s new Guideline: Sugars intake for adults and children recommends reduced intake of free sugars throughout the life course. In both adults and children, the intake of free sugars should be reduced to less than 10% of total energy intake. A further reduction to below 5% of total energy intake would provide additional health benefits."

Recommendations in the guideline focus on documented health effects associated with the intake of “free sugars”. These include monosaccharides and disaccharides added to foods by the manufacturer, cook or consumer, and sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates."

Free sugars versus intrinsic sugars

"Recommendations in the guideline focus on documented health effects associated with the intake of “free sugars." These include monosaccharides and disaccharides added to foods by the manufacturer, cook or consumer, and sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates.

Free sugars are different from intrinsic sugars found in whole fresh fruits and vegetables. As no reported evidence links the consumption of intrinsic sugars to adverse health effects, recommendations in the guideline do not apply to the consumption of intrinsic sugars present in whole fresh fruits and vegetables."




Press Release

WHO calls on countries to reduce sugars intake among adults and children
4 MARCH 2015 ¦ GENEVA

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/rel ... deline/en/

In Health
Jeff

PS This is not a statement against the use of any added sugars but a clear guidelines for those who want to include some and know, how much is safe.
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SACN Carbohydrates and Health Report

Postby JeffN » Sun Jul 19, 2015 6:51 am

Another international health organization recommends limiting "free" sugars to no more than 5% of calories and included fruit juice as an "free" sugar.

In Health
Jeff

Independent report
SACN Carbohydrates and Health Report

The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition recommendations on carbohydrates, including sugars and fibre
Public Health England
17 July 2015

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... lth-report

Highlights

- Free sugars should account for no more than 5% daily dietary energy intake.

- Free sugars are those added to food or those naturally present in honey, syrups and unsweetened fruit juices

- The consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (e.g. fizzy drinks, soft drinks and squash) should be minimised by both children and adults.

- High levels of sugar consumption are associated with a greater risk of tooth decay.

- The higher the proportion of sugar in the diet, the greater the risk of high energy intake.

- Drinking high-sugar beverages results in weight gain and increases in BMI in teenagers and children.

- Consuming too many high-sugar beverages increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Press Release
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... y_2015.PDF

Full Report
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... Health.pdf
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Re: The WHO New Recommendations for Added Sugar Intake

Postby JeffN » Fri Mar 25, 2016 5:12 am

How much sugar is hidden in drinks marketed to children? A survey of fruit juices, juice drinks and smoothies

BMJ Open 2016;6:e010330doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2015-010330

Full text
http://m.bmjopen.bmj.com/content/6/3/e010330.full

Abstract

Objective
To investigate the amount of sugars in fruit juices, juice drinks and smoothies (FJJDS) marketed to children.

Design
We surveyed the sugars content (per 100 ml and standardised 200 ml portion) of all FJJDS sold by seven major UK supermarkets (supermarket own and branded products). Only products specifically marketed towards children were included. We excluded sports drinks, iced teas, sugar-sweetened carbonated drinks and cordials as being not specifically marketed towards children.

Results
We identified 203 fruit juices (n=21), juice drinks (n=158) and smoothies (n=24) marketed to children. Sugars content ranged from 0 to 16 g/100 ml. The mean sugars content was 7.0 g/100 ml, but among the 100% fruit juice category, it was 10.7 g/100 ml. Smoothies (13.0 g/100 ml) contained the highest amounts of sugars and juice drinks (5.6 g/100 ml) contained the lowest amount. 117 of the 203 FJJDS surveyed would receive a Food Standards Agency ‘red’ colour-coded label for sugars per standardised 200 ml serving. Only 63 FJJDS would receive a ‘green’ colour-coded label. 85 products contained at least 19 g of sugars—a child's entire maximum daily amount of sugars. 57 products contained sugar (sucrose), 65 contained non-caloric sweeteners and five contained both. Seven products contained glucose-fructose syrup.

Conclusions
The sugars content in FJJDS marketed to children in the UK is unacceptably high. Manufacturers must stop adding unnecessary sugars and calories to their FJJDS.
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Re: The WHO New Recommendations for Sugar Intake

Postby JeffN » Thu Apr 14, 2016 7:05 pm

JeffN wrote: and keep saturated fat below 5% of calories then I might as well retire.



This actually became the national guideline 4 months after my comment :)

http://content.onlinejacc.org/article.a ... 70218#tab1

2.Advise adults who would benefit from LDL-C lowering to:
•Aim for a dietary pattern that achieves 5% to 6% of calories from saturated fat.


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