Sugar

Sweetened
Beverages
 What you will learn
1. What sugar is and where it is
found
2. How much sugar Canadian teens
are drinking
3. What the big deal about sugar is
4. What you can do to reduce your
sugar intake
 What is Sugar?
• Sugar is a type of carbohydrate. It breaks
down in the body to become a source of
energy called glucose.
– Glucose = energy source for the body
– Glucose is the preferred energy source for the
brain
 Natural Sugar
• Sugar is found naturally in these foods:
 Natural Sugar
• We don’t need to worry about natural
sugars
• We’re supposed to be eating some sugar
(for energy)
• Aim for natural sources to be the
majority of sugar you eat
What about other
sugar in our diet?
 Free Sugars
• Free sugars are sugars added to foods and
drinks by manufacturers, cooks or
consumers (often called ‘added sugars’).
• Also sugars naturally present in honey,
syrups, fruit juices and fruit juice
concentrates.
 Free sugars
• Sugar can be listed by many different names on an
ingredients list.

Agave, Brown sugar, Cane sugar, Evaporated cane juice,

Concentrated fruit juice, Corn syrup, Dextrose, Dextrin,
Fructose, Galactose, Glucose, Glucose-Fructose, High fructose
corn syrup, Honey, Invert sugar, Liquid sugar, Maltose, Maple
syrup, Molasses, Nectar, Raw sugar, Sucrose, Syrup, White
Sugar

• If these names are listed in the first few

ingredients on a food package, the food is likely
high in added sugar.
 A lot of the free sugar
consumed by Canadians
is from Sugary Drinks

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 What kinds of Sugary Drinks?
• Pop sales have been decreasing over the years,
BUT there has been a growth in sales of newer
products that offset these reductions: 

• Energy drinks +638%

• Sweetened coffees +579%
• Flavoured water +527%
• Drinkable yogurt +283%
• Sweetened teas +36%
• Flavoured milk +21%
• Sports drinks +4%.
 How much are Canadians
consuming?
• The average youth in Canada drinks 578 ml
of sugary drinks each day which can
contain up to 16 teaspoons or 64 grams of
sugar. 
 How much is Free Sugar is
recommended?
• The World Health Organization
recommends a daily maximum intake of
less than 10% of calories from free sugars.
• This is about 10 teaspoons per day
• The average teen is consuming double that
per day!
 What’s the Big Deal?
• Too much sugar, especially added or free
sugar, can have a negative impact on our
health.
• Too much sugar may contribute to increased
risk of dental cavities, to less healthy
weight and increased risk of diabetes and
cardiovascular disease.
 What’s the Big Deal?
• Research from the University of Waterloo reveals that
sugary drink consumption is projected to result in:
• over 63,000 deaths in Canada
• cost the healthcare system more than $50 billion
over the next 25 years.
Let’s Get Sugar Savvy
 What can I do?
Be Sugar Savvy 
Choose water or unflavoured milk and
fortified soy beverages most often. Avoid
sugary drinks, like pop and fruit juice.
 What can I do?
Read the 
Nutrition Facts Table
Look for drinks that are
lower in sugar. Make sure
you compare the serving
size on the Nutrition Facts
table to your portion size
 What can I do?
Make your own
Make your own
lower sugar
versions of drinks
like flavoured water,
iced tea or
homemade smoothies
 What can I do?

Go Natural
Get your sugars
from whole
fruit vs juices VS
Questions?