What this calculator does
The American Heart Association sets a daily added-sugar ceiling of 36 grams for men and 25 for women, which is 9 and about 6 teaspoons respectively. Most people are surprised by how small that is once it is expressed in teaspoons.
A single sweetened drink often uses the whole allowance. At 60 grams of added sugar in a day, a man is 24 grams over the guideline, which is six teaspoons more than recommended.
The formula
The guideline is a fixed figure by sex. Intake is compared against it, with both converted to teaspoons at four grams per teaspoon.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Added sugar | Sugar added during processing or preparation, not sugar naturally present in fruit or milk. |
| AHA guideline | 36 g a day for men and 25 g for women. |
| Teaspoon equivalent | About 4 grams of sugar per teaspoon. |
The inputs explained
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Sex | Sex, which selects the guideline figure. |
| Added sugar eaten today (g) | Added sugar consumed today in grams, from nutrition labels. |
When to use it
Checking a day of eating
Totalling added sugar from labels shows where the allowance actually goes.
Understanding a drink label
A single sweetened beverage frequently exceeds the whole daily guideline.
Converting grams to teaspoons
Teaspoons make the quantity far easier to picture than grams do.
Worked examples
Every figure in the tables below is produced by this page’s own calculator at build time, so the numbers and the tool always agree. Select any row to load that scenario.
How does intake compare against the guideline?
Three daily intakes against the same guideline.
| Added sugar eaten | Amount entered | Difference from guideline |
|---|---|---|
| 20 g | 20 g (5.0 tsp) | 16 g |
| 36 g | 36 g (9.0 tsp) | 0 g |
| 60 g | 60 g (15.0 tsp) | 24 g |
Questions
What counts as added sugar?
Sugar and syrups added during processing or preparation, including honey and fruit juice concentrate. Sugar naturally present in whole fruit, vegetables and plain milk is not counted, since it arrives with fibre and other nutrients.
Why do men and women have different limits?
Because the guideline is derived from a share of typical daily calorie intake, which differs on average. It is a population figure, so an individual with unusually high or low energy needs might reasonably differ.
How do I find added sugar on a label?
Many countries now require it as a separate line. Where labels only show total sugars, the ingredients list is the guide: anything ending in -ose, plus syrups, honey and concentrates, is added sugar.
Is the WHO guidance the same?
Similar but framed differently. WHO recommends free sugars below 10 per cent of energy intake with a conditional further recommendation below 5 per cent, which works out in a comparable range for most adults.
For a food's effect on blood glucose, see the glycemic load calculator. For daily fibre targets, see the fiber intake calculator.