It can seem like nutrition experts are constantly disagreeing with each other—or coming out with new information that contradicts what they've said previously. But last week, several top names in the food industry came together at the James Beard Foundation Food Conference to make one thing clear: They all agree we should be eating a whole lot less sugar.
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Of course, that's easier said than done: Nutrition labels don't list what the recommended daily intake of sugar is. (In case you're wondering, it's no more than five percent of your diet, or about six teaspoons of the sweet stuff per day, per the World Health Organization). What's more, food manufacturers add sugar to lots of foods that don't even taste all that sweet. "You could make dog poop taste good with enough sugar, and the food industry does," says Robert Lustig, M.D., professor of pediatrics in the division of endocrinology at the University of California – San Francisco.
As part of his presentation, Lustig showed a slide with 56 different words on it that all amount to the same thing: added sugar. Here's an infographic based on Lustig's slide:
Lustig says that food manufacturers often list different types of added sugars as the seventh, eighth, and ninth items on an ingredient list to fool you into thinking there's not a significant amount of added sweeteners. "When you add it up, it's No. 1," he says. Pretty sneaky—and pretty scary.
For more information on the dangers of sugar, check out Women's Health's comprehensive report on how sugar is killing us.
MORE: The 5 Phases of How to Quit Sugar for Good
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