Fall and winter are the seasons of sugar. Almost everything is about pumpkin spice, baked goods and candy. Your little munchkins are probably impatiently waiting for a candy-fueled Halloween night frenzy and you are loving all those pumpkin spice lattes as well.
Before you let the kids dive headfirst into a bucket of candy, let’s take a moment to unravel the scary truth about sugar. It turns out that understanding how much of this substance hides in everyone’s favorite treats is easier—and more alarming—than you might think. Remember, sugar is the bad guy hiding in your mouth creating havoc with your teeth, gums, and waistline. Childhood diabetes and obesity are rampant in our society. Sugar is also linked to all kinds of medical conditions in adults.
So grab the bag of candy and let’s delve into a world of sticky statistics!
Terror by the Teaspoon
Here are the bone-chilling facts: sugar isn’t just the stuff of every parent’s nightmares hiding in plain sight in candy, it’s hiding in many of your favorite drinks and foods as well. All food, drinks, and snacks that are commercially made have a list of ingredients where the sugary stuff is listed by the gram. But what is a gram equal to? It is easier to visualize it by the teaspoons rather than grams. Understanding how a gram translates to a teaspoon can help you get an idea of just how much of the bad stuff you’re consuming.
How do you translate grams to teaspoons?
Here is a simple way to figure out how to convert grams to teaspoons. Divide the number of grams by 4. Example: 50 grams divided by 4 = 12.5 or 12 ½ teaspoons.
Here are some examples of common snacks, candies, condiments, and drinks and how those grams convert to teaspoons:
- A 2-pack of normal-size Reeses Peanut Butter Cups has 21 grams of sugar. That is the same as 5 ¼ teaspoons.
- Grande Pumpkin Spice Latte has 50 grams which is 12 ½ teaspoons!
- KitKat Bar (4 of the little chocolate-covered wafers in a package) is 49.6 grams which is more than 12 teaspoons!
- Starburst – One little square candy has 3.33 grams and the whole package is 33 grams which is 8 ¼ teaspoons!
- Rice Crispy Treats – 2 squares have 14 grams which is 3 ½ teaspoons
- Hershey 1.55 oz Chocolate Bar – is 25 grams which is 6 ½ teaspoons
- Stawberry Low Fat Yoplait Yogurt Cup 6 oz is 19 grams which is 4 ¾ teaspoons.
- Heinz Tomato Ketchup – (serving size 1 Tbsp which is not very much as most people add 2 -3 times that on their fries) is 4 grams which is 1 teaspoon
- Arizona iced tea, with lemon flavor, 20 fl oz bottle has 59 grams which is the same as 14 ¾ teaspoons!
I’m sure you are getting the picture by now that there is a lot more of the sugary stuff than you thought in the most popular candies, cookies, and drinks.
Serving Size Shenanigans
Be wary of serving sizes on labels. Many people assume the thing they are eating or drinking is one serving, but it may be two or more servings. If you consume the whole drink or package, multiply the sugar grams by the number of servings, then divide by 4. For example, if you drink a 64 oz bottle of Pure Leaf Sweet Tea in one day (64 oz is 5 servings) and each serving is 27 grams x 5 servings = 135 grams divided by 4 = 33 ¾ teaspoons, which is almost a cup of sugar! You add all the other things you are eating and drinking on top of that and now you know why the pounds keep piling on.
Be Sugar Savvy
As you gear up for lots of fall specials and holiday treats, keep these sugary stats in mind and maybe choose a few less sweet concoctions—or at least savor them with a mindful eye. Because once you can visualize sugar in teaspoons rather than grams, the real quantity becomes all too clear. Here’s to a holiday season that’s sweet without the sugary overload!
For ideas to help limit the Halloween candy overload for the kids, read our article below.
31 Halloween Candy Alternatives
Don’t forget to brush and floss your teeth after meals and snacks to help keep the plaque at bay!