Keeping your sugar intake to a minimum is always important to your overall health, but it’s especially crucial if you want to lose weight. We probably don’t have to tell you that eating sweet pastries, chowing down on candy, and indulging in dessert isn’t the best choice if you want to slim down. “Sugar, by itself, is a huge contributing factor to weight gain,” says Nutritionist and Personal Trainer Mary Sabat. But exactly how much sugar can you eat if a smaller waistline line is your goal?
To get the answer to this question and learn more, we checked in with Sabat. She told us that 25 grams of sugar is the recommended intake—but there are a few other factors to consider as well. Find all of her expert insight and advice below!
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25 grams of sugar for weight loss
As it turns out, Sabat says that your sugar intake should be kept to "about 25 grams a day for weight loss." This is the same amount that the American Dietetics Association recommends—and it may sound quite low if you're used to eating processed foods. Unfortunately, many of the foods that we eat on a daily basis are packed with added sugars.
Just take a typical breakfast as an example; eating just one piece of banana bread from Starbucks puts you over your daily limit with 28g of sugar. Additionally, a bowl of Fruity Pebbles and a glass of orange juice equals around 18g, which leaves little wiggle room throughout the day. For this reason, it's important to prioritize whole foods and limit added sugar.
"I also recommend that the sugar consumed be spread out between meals and snacks to avoid large spikes in glucose which leads to fat storage," Sabat goes on. This is even more of a reason to be careful what you eat for breakfast (or at any meal) so as not to blow your sugar allowance all at once.
Of course, if you can keep your sugar even lower than 25g, that's even better.
Consider carbs and fiber too
Here's another important thing to consider: Carbs also play into your sugar intake. "Keep in mind that all carbohydrate foods turn to sugar in the body so it is not just sugar itself that must be considered," Sabat reminds us. "I like my clients to aim for 60 net carbs per day," she says, explaining that net carbs are total carbohydrates minus fiber. "By aiming for this amount, we can keep glucose spikes lower and thereby better regulate the fat storage hormone insulin. " Nice!
Spreading your intake throughout the day is important here, too: "As with regular sugar, keeping carbohydrate balanced throughout the day rather than all at once helps to control the glucose and allow people to get into their fat stores for weight loss," Sabat notes.
Of course, at the end of the day, giving into dessert every now and then won't necessarily set you up for failure. But overall, while keeping the sugar to a minimum may be difficult for anyone with a bit of a sweet tooth, sticking to these limits is the best way to ensure you'll be able to meet your weight loss goals.
