The bitter truth about sugar: 15 questions, 15 honest answers
ca. 24 Minuten
Key points
Since 2015, the World Health Organization has recommended getting less than 10 percent of daily energy from free sugars (WHO, 2015). German professional associations adopted the recommendation in 2018 and put it in practical terms: at 2,000 kilocalories a day, that’s no more than 50 grams. Germany exceeds that amount.
This article answers 15 questions that come up in everyday life. Each answer includes the institution and year. Where there’s no reliable evidence, that’s stated too, rather than making a catchy claim.
The first five questions are about amounts, the next five about types and substitutes, and the last five about the body, levels, and predisposition. If you only want to remember one number, you’ll find it in the chapter “Sugar in numbers.” If you want to know what can be measured, skip ahead.
What to expect in this article
1. What this is about, and what it isn’t
2. Questions 1 to 5: amounts
3. Questions 6 to 10: types and substitutes
4. Myth check: four claims that persist
5. Sugar in numbers
6. A recap after ten questions
7. Questions 11 to 15: the body, levels, and predisposition
8. Comparing types of sugar
9. What a test can contribute
10. Limits: what this article doesn’t cover
11. Six teaspoons is a number you’ll remember
Frequently asked questions
Sources
What this is about, and what it isn’t
Sugar is not poison. But it is not harmless, either. It provides energy and has an upper limit, and the World Health Organization and German professional associations have agreed on that limit for years.
The problem is rarely the spoonful in your coffee. It’s the total from drinks, ready-made sauces, granola bars, and the glass of juice that counts as a serving of fruit. That total is hard to see precisely because it’s spread throughout the day.
What you won’t find here: a list of banned foods, a meal plan, or a promise that a single change will prevent a disease. What you will find: 15 questions, each with an answer backed by a source.
Key takeaway
The recommendations on sugar are not a ban, but an upper limit as a percentage of daily energy intake. Knowing what they are means you can decide for yourself how to use that allowance.
Questions 1 to 5: amounts
1. How much sugar is too much?
In 2015, the WHO called on countries to reduce the daily intake of free sugars to less than 10 percent of total energy intake. In the original: “reduce their daily intake of free sugars to less than 10% of their total energy intake” (WHO, 2015). According to the same statement, reducing it further to below 5 percent, or around 25 grams or six teaspoons a day, would bring additional health benefits.
The 10 percent in the 2015 WHO recommendation is an upper limit, not a target. And it is a proportion, not a fixed number of grams. On paper, people who eat more can eat more sugar than those with lower needs, which is no help to anyone in practice. That is why the German professional societies converted the figure.
Cited source
“At an estimated total energy intake of 2,000 kcal per day, this recommendation corresponds to a maximum intake of 50 g of free sugars.”
German Nutrition Society, German Obesity Society, and German Diabetes Association
Consensus paper “Quantitative Recommendation for Sugar Intake in Germany,” summary, page 5, 2018
Fifty grams sounds like a lot. A half-liter bottle of lemonade accounts for a large part of that, without making anyone feel full. The caveat in the consensus paper (2018) is important: the figure applies to an estimated 2,000 kilocalories a day. Those who eat significantly less or more have a different gram amount.
2. What are “free sugars,” and does fruit count?
Free sugars are a defined term, not a matter of opinion. The consensus paper (2018) states: “Free sugars include monosaccharides and disaccharides added to foods by manufacturers or consumers, as well as sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juice concentrates, and fruit juices.”
Monosaccharides and disaccharides are simple and double sugars, such as glucose, fructose, and table sugar, which is made from both. The definition leads to a surprisingly clear boundary: the apple you eat isn’t included. The apple juice you drink is.
This is no mere quibble. Juice is drunk faster than fruit is eaten, and the whole fruit’s fiber is left behind in the pulp. If you want to reduce your sugar intake, beverages are usually the single biggest source.
3. How much sugar do we really eat?
For the 2024/25 marketing year, the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (2026) reports: “Per capita consumption was therefore 33.2 kilograms, up on the previous year (31.1 kilograms), but lower than in 2022/23 (33.9 kilograms).” That’s just over ninety grams a day if the annual amount is spread evenly.
However, a consumption figure is not an intake figure. It describes what enters the market, including what is processed by industry, thrown away, or used as animal feed. Turning that into a plate of food is too rough an estimate. The figure is useful for tracking trends, not for assessing your own breakfast.
4. Are we above the limit?
For actual intake, the consensus paper (2018) draws on the National Nutrition Survey II. It states: “As age increased, free sugar intake steadily declined, reaching 13.9 En% (percent of energy) among women aged 15 to 80 and 13 En% among men aged 15 to 80.”
The authors draw a brief conclusion from this: “However, free sugar intake remains well above 10 En% for all population groups” (Consensus Paper, 2018). That is the answer to the question. Not just slightly above, but well above, and in every age group.
5. Is there a safe amount?
In 2022, the European Food Safety Authority tried exactly that and was unable to do so. Its statement says: “The scientific evidence did not allow us to set a tolerable upper intake level for dietary sugars, which was the original goal of this assessment.” In other words, the available evidence did not allow it to set a tolerable upper limit.
Instead, the authority gives a direction rather than a limit: “intakes of added and free sugars should be as low as possible as part of a nutritionally adequate diet” (EFSA, 2022). Added and free sugars should be as low as possible as part of a nutritionally adequate diet.
That is less convenient than a number, but more honest. There is no threshold below which everything is good and above which everything is bad. There is a direction.
Questions 6 to 10: Types and substitutes
6. Is brown sugar better than white sugar?
Color makes no difference when classifying something as free sugar. The definition in the Consensus Paper (2018) is based solely on whether the sugar is added by manufacturers or consumers. So brown sugar that you stir into the batter counts just as much as white sugar.
Whether brown sugar also contains other components is a separate question, and we have no reliable evidence for it here. So we make no claim about that. What is certain is that the type does not affect how much you need to count toward your upper limit.
7. Honey isn’t sugar, though, is it?
It does. And here is why: The definition explicitly names honey. “Free sugars include monosaccharides and disaccharides added to foods by manufacturers or consumers, as well as sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juice concentrates, and fruit juices” (Consensus Paper, 2018).
The same sentence covers agave syrup, rice syrup, maple syrup, and apple syrup. They are syrups. The fact that a sweetener looks unprocessed or is sold in a health food store does not change how it is classified.
8. Is fruit sugar the less harmful option?
In 2009, the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment addressed this in a statement. It says: “Fructose increases blood lipid (triglyceride) levels and ‘harmful’ LDL cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol) in the metabolism.”
The same statement continues: “High fructose intake is associated with the pathogenesis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)” (BfR, Statement No. 041/2009). This is an assessment from 2009, and we deliberately date it as such here.
The concern is excessive intake, not apples. According to the 2018 definition, fructose from whole fruit is not classified as free sugar. Fructose from juice, syrup and sweetened drinks is, and that’s where the amounts add up.
9. Are sweeteners the solution?
In 2023, the WHO published a dedicated guideline on this and advised against using sweeteners for weight control. In its accompanying announcement, Francesco Branca is quoted as saying: “Replacing free sugars with NSS does not help with weight control in the long term.” Replacing free sugars with sweeteners does not help with weight control in the long term.
The recommendation is against using sweeteners “to control body weight or reduce the risk of noncommunicable diseases” (WHO, 2023). In its “Healthy diet” fact sheet, the WHO is even more explicit in 2026, stating that free sugar reduction should be achieved without sweeteners.
We’ve taken a detailed look elsewhere at what sweeteners do to blood sugar and where the evidence is thin: Sweeteners and blood sugar: what the evidence shows.
10. Is sugar addictive?
We have no evidence for this question that would support a clear answer. So we won’t give one. What many people describe is a varying degree of craving for sweets, which can be stronger after a sweet meal than before.
The evidence shows something else, and it is enough to justify the point: “High and frequent sugar intake is associated, among other things, with overweight and obesity, increased risks of numerous overweight-associated diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, as well as the development of dental caries” (Consensus Paper, 2018). So it’s the amount and frequency that matter, not the label.
Myth check: four statements that persist
You hear the following four statements in every other kitchen. None of them is ill-intentioned, three of them are demonstrably short-sighted, and one is expressly not recommended by the WHO.
Myth
“Brown sugar is the healthier choice.”
What the evidence shows
The definition of free sugars does not ask about color, but whether the sugar was added (Consensus Paper, 2018). It counts fully toward your limit.
Myth
“Honey is not sugar, but a natural product.”
What the evidence shows
Honey is explicitly named in the definition of free sugars, alongside syrups, fruit juice concentrates and fruit juices (Consensus Paper, 2018). Being both is not a contradiction.
Myth
“Fruit sugar is harmless because it comes from fruit.”
What the evidence shows
In its statement No. 041/2009, the BfR says that excessive fructose intake is associated with the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. It is the amount that matters, not the fruit.
Myth
“You lose weight by using sweetener instead of sugar.”
What the evidence shows
In its 2023 guideline, the WHO advises against using sweeteners for weight control. Replacing free sugars with sweeteners does not help with weight control in the long term.
Sugar in figures
Four figures sum up what the first ten questions are about. Two are recommendations, two describe reality. The gap between them is the real story.
under 10%
of daily energy from free sugars, as recommended by the WHO (2015)
25 g
around six teaspoons, the benchmark for under 5 percent with additional benefits (WHO, 2015)
33.2 kg
Sugar per capita in the 2024/25 marketing year, reported by the BLE (2026)
13.9% of energy
actual intake of free sugars among women, 13 percent of energy among men (consensus paper, 2018)
The recommendation is less than 10 percent of energy; measured intake was 13 and 13.9 percent of energy (consensus paper, 2018). So the gap is not an occasional lapse by individuals, but a feature of the diet that is common in Germany.
Midway summary after ten questions
Ten questions have been answered, and a pattern is emerging. The expert organizations disagree not about the direction, but about the precision of a figure that works out differently for each person.
It is also striking how often the answer depends on a definition rather than an effect. Whether honey, syrup or brown sugar count differently is determined by a sentence from 2018, not by gut feeling at the supermarket.
At a glance
Free sugars include everything added, plus honey, syrups, fruit juice concentrates and fruit juices. The recommendation is less than 10 percent of energy. In Germany, the figure is 13 to 13.9 percent. A tolerable upper limit could not be established, and sweeteners are not recommended for weight control. Sources: WHO 2015 and 2023, 2018 consensus paper, EFSA 2022.
Questions 11 to 15: body, figures, predisposition
11. Where is sugar hiding?
Most reliably where nobody looks for it. Fruit juice concentrate in tomato sauce, syrup in a cereal bar, fruit juice in a children’s purée pouch: all three count as free sugars under the 2018 definition, and none of them has the word sugar in its name.
Two places on the package can help. The ingredients list is ordered by quantity, so the top third matters most. The nutrition table includes the line “of which sugars,” which counts all the sugar in the product, including naturally occurring sugar.
So this line isn’t a direct candidate for your 50-gram calculation, but an approximation. In a ready-made sauce that naturally contains almost nothing sweet, it still comes close.
12. What does sugar do to teeth and weight?
The picture is especially clear when it comes to teeth. The WHO fact sheet “Sugars and dental caries” (2025) states: “The consumption of free sugars in foods and beverages is the most common risk factor for dental caries and is a shared risk factor across several NCDs.” In other words, consuming free sugars is the most common risk factor for tooth decay and a shared risk factor for several noncommunicable diseases.
The wording is more cautious when it comes to weight. The consensus paper (2018) describes an association between high and frequent sugar intake and excess weight, not a guaranteed cause. A risk factor indicates a probability across groups, not a prediction for you.
13. What does blood sugar show, and what does HbA1c show?
Blood sugar is a snapshot. It changes with every meal, with exercise and with sleep, so a single reading says little about the weeks before it. Here’s how to interpret it after eating: interpreting blood sugar after eating.
The HbA1c takes the opposite approach. It measures the proportion of blood pigment that has sugar attached to it, capturing a longer period rather than a single moment. Exactly which period is a question of its own: which period the HbA1c reflects.
Both values belong in a conversation with your doctor, not in a self-diagnosis. If you want to find out your HbA1c without an appointment, you can get it with mybody®x (MYBODY Lab GmbH)’s Men's Wellness Check and Women's Wellness Check, two at-home blood tests analyzed by a specialist laboratory in Germany. A result is a starting point for a conversation, not a diagnosis.
14. Do all people react to sugar the same way?
No, and that’s one reason blanket advice so often misses the mark. How the body processes carbohydrates and regulates blood sugar also depends on genetic predispositions. What that means in everyday life depends on many other things.
Genetic predisposition is not destiny. A finding about blood sugar regulation describes probabilities in population groups, not a prediction for an individual, and it doesn’t tell anyone how much sugar they can eat. This article explains how far research into genes and nutrition has come: Nutrigenomics and personalized nutrition.
15. What can I start doing differently tomorrow?
Start with drinks. They’re the easiest item to change quickly and with the least discomfort, because they do little to fill you up. Next, check the ingredient lists of the three products you buy most often.
And one point that’s easy to overlook: in its fact sheet “Healthy diet” (2026), the WHO recommends reducing free sugars without using sweeteners. So switching from lemonade to the sugar-free version is not the goal, but at most an interim step.
Key takeaway
A lab result tells you where you stand. A genetic predisposition tells you what to expect. Neither tells you how much sugar you can eat.
Comparing types of sugar
The table summarizes what was covered individually in questions 6 to 9. The second column is key, because it determines whether a type of sugar counts toward your limit.
| Type of sugar | Counts as free sugar? | Energy | What the evidence says | Where it shows up in everyday life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Table sugar, white or brown | Yes, entirely. The definition is based on whether it is added, not on its color (Consensus Paper, 2018). | Provides energy. The exact caloric content is listed in the product’s nutrition table. | High and frequent intake is associated with overweight and tooth decay (Consensus Paper, 2018). | Baked goods, confectionery, breakfast cereals, coffee and tea. |
| Honey and syrups | Yes. Honey, syrups, and fruit juice concentrates are specifically named in the definition (Consensus Paper, 2018). | Provides energy like added sugar. See the label for caloric content. | There is no evidence here about the health effects of individual varieties. This does not change how they are classified. | Muesli, bars, marinades, spreads, sweetened milk drinks. |
| Fruit sugar from whole fruit | No. Whole fruit does not appear in the definition (Consensus Paper, 2018). | Provides energy, as well as water and fiber from the fruit. | In its 2009 warning, the BfR explicitly refers to excessive fructose intake. | Apples, pears, berries, bananas as whole fruit. |
| Fruit sugar from juice and added sugar | Yes. Fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates are explicitly included in the definition (Consensus Paper, 2018). | Provides energy without the fiber of whole fruit. | According to BfR Opinion No. 041/2009, fructose increases triglycerides and LDL cholesterol in the metabolism. | Juices, spritzers, smoothies, squeeze pouches, ready-made sauces. |
| Sweeteners | No, they are not sugars. Even so, the WHO does not recommend using them as substitutes (WHO, 2023). | There is no evidence here regarding caloric content. | In 2023, the WHO advised against using them for weight control and in 2026 recommended reducing sugar without sweeteners. | Sugar-free drinks, gum, yogurt, table sweeteners. |
What a test can tell you
To be honest, this is where things get less exciting. No test in the world can tell you how many grams of sugar are right for you, because that number depends on your total energy intake, not your genes. What a test can provide is a different kind of information.
The DNA Metabolic Analysis by mybody®x reads over 80 genetic variations from a saliva sample and organizes them into 24 analysis reports. These include predispositions that describe how your body processes carbohydrates and regulates blood sugar. Which of the 24 reports covers which aspect isn’t individually documented in the information available to us, so we don’t list report names here.
Your genetic predisposition isn’t set in stone.
The practical benefit is that you can stop guessing why a change works for your neighbor but not for you. A test result gives you a starting point. What you do with it is up to you.
DNA test from saliva
DNA Metabolic Analysis | incl. 28-day plan & recipe book
Over 80 genetic variations, 24 analysis reports in 5 chapters across around 140 pages, plus a 28-day plan and a recipe book. What the test doesn’t do: it doesn’t diagnose, specify an allowable amount of sugar, or include an assessment of over 1,000 foods.
Lab analysis 15–25 business days after sample receipt
Limits: what this doesn’t cover
This article is based on recommendations from authorities and professional associations. It does not replace a conversation with your doctor, and it does not make any claims about your case. If you already have a metabolic disorder, get your target values from your doctor, not here.
We noticed two gaps while writing, and would rather name them. We haven’t verified any reliable sources on the caloric value of individual types of sugar or the ingredients of brown sugar. So neither appears anywhere in the text as a figure.
When to talk to a doctor
Excessive thirst and frequent urination
If both symptoms are new and persist, it’s a reason to make an appointment, not to change your diet on your own.
An abnormal lab result
A single result from a self-test is a reason to ask questions. A doctor’s office can interpret it in light of your medical history.
An existing treatment
If you take medication that affects your blood sugar, discuss any major changes beforehand. Even a reduction may require an adjustment.
Six teaspoons is a number you remember
It began with the observation that sugar is a source of energy with an upper limit. It ends with the same observation, just in a form that’s easy to remember. In 2015, the WHO gave around 25 grams, or six teaspoons per day, as the more stringent recommendation of less than 5 percent.
It’s easy to picture six teaspoons, but not 10 percent of energy. And once you’ve worked out how many teaspoons there are in half a liter of lemonade, you won’t need a list of prohibitions.
Four practical steps without giving anything up
Drinks first
Juice, juice spritzers and lemonade are the single biggest item and the one that is least filling. Just putting water alongside them is often enough.
Read the top third of the ingredients list
The list is sorted by quantity. If it includes syrup, fruit juice concentrate or an ingredient ending in -ose, that item is relevant.
Move sweetness to later rather than cutting it out
The 2018 consensus paper refers to high and frequent intake. Frequency is the lever that’s easier to pull than quantity.
Don’t mistake the detour via sweeteners for the goal
In its 2026 fact sheet “Healthy diet,” the WHO recommends achieving the reduction without sweeteners. As an interim step, though, they are still allowed.
Nobody has to cut sugar out of their life to get close to six teaspoons. You just need to know where it is. That takes a minute at the supermarket, and that minute isn’t selling you anything.
Frequently asked questions
Does the sugar in milk count?
The definition of free sugars in the consensus paper by DGE, DAG and DDG (2018) does not mention milk. It covers added mono- and disaccharides, as well as the sugars in honey, syrups, fruit juice concentrates and fruit juices. The lactose in unsweetened milk therefore does not count as free sugar. As soon as a milk drink is sweetened, the added sugar does count, and in cocoa drinks or fruit yogurt, it often makes all the difference.
Does the 50-gram limit also apply to children?
No, at least not without considering the context. The 2015 WHO recommendation is a share of total energy intake and applies equally to adults and children. The 50 grams are a conversion by the consensus paper (2018) based on an estimated 2,000 kilocalories per day. Anyone who needs less energy has a correspondingly lower gram amount. The consensus paper also notes that free sugar intake decreases steadily with age, meaning younger age groups exceed the recommendation by the greatest margin.
Should agave syrup and rice syrup be assessed differently?
Not according to the definition. The consensus paper (2018) explicitly includes syrups as free sugars, and agave syrup, rice syrup, maple syrup, and apple syrup are syrups. They therefore count fully toward the recommendation of less than 10 percent of energy. We could not verify for this article whether any of these alternatives have properties that distinguish them from table sugar, so we make no such claims.
Do I have to count grams to stay below the limit?
None of the cited sources require this. In 2022, EFSA even concluded that it was not scientifically possible to establish a tolerable upper limit for sugar, and instead offered guidance: keep it as low as possible within a nutritionally adequate diet. For everyday purposes, an overview of the two or three largest sources is usually enough. Knowing what they are means you can manage without weighing or counting.
What does energy percent actually mean?
Energy percent, often abbreviated as En%, is the share of a nutrient in the total energy a person consumes per day. This figure is independent of how much someone eats, making it comparable between people with different needs. The consensus paper (2018) converts the recommendation of less than 10 En% into no more than 50 grams of free sugars for an estimated intake of 2,000 kilocalories. For measured intake, it reports 13.9 En% for women and 13 En% for men aged 15 to 80.
Next step
From recommendation to your own baseline
The figures above apply to population groups. If you want to know how your body handles carbohydrates or where your long-term value stands, there are two different ways to find out.
View DNA metabolism analysis What HbA1c showsRead more
You might also be interested in
Which lab values in this area are actually informative, and how they relate to each other.
Continuous measurement on the arm or a long-term lab value, and when each perspective is helpful.
Sources
- World Health Organization: WHO calls on countries to reduce sugars intake among adults and children (as of 2015) – who.int
- DGE, DAG and DDG: Consensus Paper on Quantitative Recommendation for Sugar Intake in Germany (as of 2018) – dge.de
- Federal Office for Agriculture and Food: Sugar, Data and Reports (as of 2026, data for 2024/25) – ble.de
- World Health Organization: WHO advises not to use non-sugar sweeteners for weight control (as of 2023) – who.int
- European Food Safety Authority: Added and free sugars should be as low as possible (as of 2022) – efsa.europa.eu
- German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment: Opinion No. 041/2009 on fructose intake (as of 2009) – bfr.bund.de
The recommendation of less than 10 percent and the figure of 25 grams come from [1], the conversion to 50 grams and the definition of free sugars from [2]. Consumption figures are in [3], statements on sweeteners in [4], the absence of a maximum amount in [5], and the assessment of fructose in [6]. Two other WHO fact sheets are cited in context in the text: Sugars and dental caries (2025) and Healthy diet (2026). Information on mybody®x products was checked against the product pages on 08.09.2026.
mybody®x Editorial & Subject-Matter Team
Nutrition Blood sugar and lab values Genetics and metabolism
This text was prepared by the editorial and subject-matter team at mybody®x, which checks every figure against the primary source cited before publication. Find out who is behind it on the authors page.
Published on 08.09.2026 · Last updated on 08.09.2026
The content is intended for general information and does not replace medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Our products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent diseases. Reference ranges depend on the laboratory, method, and age; the information on your test results always takes precedence. DNA analysis is intended for nutrition and lifestyle advice. It is not a diagnostic procedure, does not predict disease, and does not replace a medical examination or consultation. Genetic variants describe probabilities in population groups, not a determination for individuals.
