I have learned the best way to visualize the about the amount of sugar in anything is to look at the nutrition label and divide the number of grams of sugar by four. That will tell you how many teaspoons of sugar are in one serving of that item.
Every time I give a speech, I use “giving up soda” as an example of a health habit to adopt. I talk about the incredibly huge amount of sugar in soda: there are 39 grams of sugar in a 12-ounce Coke. That’s nearly 10 teaspoons of sugar. And most people who drink a soda, drink far more than 12 ounces.
Even if we stick with 12 ounces, think about how much 10 teaspoons of sugar is. If you are a coffee drinker, would you put 10 spoons of sugar in your coffee?
“Soda is poison,” I always say in my speeches.
While some of the facts I share about soda come as a surprise to my audiences, their surprise is often greater when I tell them not to drink juice.
Most people do not realize how much sugar is in juice. One 12-ounce glass of orange juice contains roughly the same amount of sugar as a Coke—the equivalent of about 10 teaspoons.
Many people drink a large glass of orange juice each morning. Would those same people eat three-and-one-third oranges each morning? That’s how many oranges it would take to equal the amount of sugar in that glass of OJ. (One medium-sized navel orange contains about 12 grams of sugar—the equivalent of three teaspoons of sugar.)
Unlike soda, juice is “natural” and contains some “vitamins”, but its health detriments outweigh any benefits.
I almost exclusively drink water. I know to many people that sounds boring. But, it quenches my thirst and that’s all I need.
If you want to read more about the perils of juice consumption, you can read this New York Times article.
Best regards,
David