Snacks
This "healthy" breakfast option can sometimes have more sugar than a dessert, especially if it’s the "Fruit at the Bottom" variety.
Yogurt
This inexpensive sweetener is one of the most common added sugars in soda and processed snacks.
High fructose corn syrup
This popular McDonald's breakfast item comes with a topping that alone contains 30 grams of sugar—more than the daily recommended limit.
Hotcakes (or pancakes)
When you eat a lot of added sugar quickly, your blood glucose spikes and then does this, leaving you feeling tired, irritable, and foggy.
a crash
This "simple" sugar is the primary source of energy for your body's cells and is often measured in blood tests.
Glucose
Even though it tastes salty, two tablespoons of this popular dip/condiment often contains 2 teaspoons of sugar.
Ketchup
On a nutrition label, this line tells you how much extra sugar is in a product.
Added sugar
You might choose THIS to get in some veggies, but the sauce often adds 2-3 teaspoons of sugar.
Salad
Sugar triggers the release of this "feel-good" chemical in the brain's reward center, which is part of why it can feel so hard to stop eating it.
dopamine
Often called "fruit sugar," this is the naturally occurring sweetener found in honey, berries, and tree fruits.
Fructose
One 20-ounce bottle of a typical "Sport Drink" (like Gatorade) contains about 34 grams of sugar, which is roughly the same as 8 of these square candies.
This is the scientific name for common white "table sugar," which is actually a molecule made of one glucose and one fructose joined together.
sucrose
This drink contains roughly the same amount of sugar as is recommended for an entire day for teens — a popular Starbucks order.
Grande iced matcha
Research is beginning to link high sugar consumption in teens to higher rates of these two mental health conditions, in part because sugar disrupts gut health and inflammation — both of which communicate with the brain.
anxiety and depression
While the body uses sugar for energy, this specific organ is the "greediest" consumer, using about 20% of the body's total glucose every day to keep you thinking.
the brain
This natural drink often has no added sugar but is so concentrated that one cup contains as much sugar as a glass of soda.
Juice
This artificial sweetener often found in Diet Coke is 200x sweeter than table sugar.
Aspartame
A large chocolate milkshake at a typical fast food chain can contain up to 100 grams of sugar — the equivalent of eating this many glazed donuts in one sitting.
10 donuts
High sugar diets can trigger hormonal spikes that increase oil production in your skin, potentially leading to this common teen skin condition that also affects mood and self-confidence.
acne
When you eat too much sugar at once, your body releases a large amount of this hormone to lower your blood sugar, which can lead to a "sugar crash" later.
Insulin
This popular "health" drink is often marketed as a better alternative to soda, but a single 16oz bottle can contain up to 61 grams of sugar — more than a can of Coke.
Kombucha
This sugar substitute, made from a South American plant, is used in drinks like Poppi and Olipop. Unlike regular sugar, it doesn't cause a significant glucose spike — but it can retrain your taste buds to expect extreme sweetness.
Stevia (or Monk fruit)
At most fast food chains, upsizing from a medium to a large drink adds roughly this many extra grams of sugar — an entire second day's worth of the recommended teen limit.
25 grams
Sugar doesn't just affect your blood — it affects the trillions of bacteria living in your digestive system. Scientists call this community of microorganisms by this name, and research suggests that too much sugar disrupts its balance, which in turn affects immunity and mood.
gut microbiome
Unlike glucose, this natural sugar found in fruit and honey must be processed entirely by THIS organ before it can be used as energy
liver