The math is simple. This is how many grams of sugar you consume if you drink an average of one 12-ounce can of Coke, Pepsi or Mountain Dew each week/year:
- Coke: 273 grams of sugar per week, 14,196 per year
- Pepsi: 287 per week, 14,924 per year
- Mountain Dew: 323 per week, 16,817 per year
“There is often so much emphasis on what people eat that what they drink can get lost,” says Angel Hall, practice manager at the St. Elizabeth Physicians Regional Diabetes Center in Covington, Ky. “Intake of sugary beverages can be among the greatest contributors to diabetes.
“If I could tell people to eliminate one thing from their diets, it would be soft drinks. There is little to no redeeming health benefits. You are drinking pure sugar. Aside from caffeine associated with some soft drinks ““ which is why some people enjoy drinks like Coke and Mountain Dew ““ there is nothing to gain from these.”
Indeed, according to the American Heart Association, “regular soft drinks are the No. 1 source of added sugars in Americans’ diets.” Sugars/candy is a distant second with cakes/cookies/pies third.
Coke has 39 grams of sugar per can, Pepsi 41 and Mountain Dew 46.
You want to take one baby step toward dieting? Trade a can of pop for a bottle of water.
The American Heart Association recommends:
- Adult males consume no more than 36 grams of sugar per day (9 teaspoons)
- Adult females consume no more than 25 grams of sugar per day (6 teaspoons)
- Preschool children consume no more than 16 grams of sugar per day (4 teaspoons)
- Children ages 4-8 consume no more than 12 grams of sugar per day (3 teaspoons)
- Preteen and teens consume no more than 20 to 32 grams of sugar per day (5 to 8 teaspoons)
Just one can of Coke, Pepsi or Mountain Dew exceeds all of that.
