Sugar Equivalency Tables

The concept of Sugar Equivalency has been developed by Nicole Avena, PhD, and John Talbott in their recent book, entitled “Why Diets Fail: Because You Are Addicted to Sugar,” which is sold on Amazon.com. The results of their research reveal the content of refined sugar and processed carbs in a single number called the “Sugar Equivalency Score.” This numerical scoring system helps you to identify which foods to avoid in your goals to select a healthy diet and avoid sugar cravings. We suggest that you purchase their complete ebook on Amazon.com by clicking HERE. Why Diets Fail: Because You Are Addicted To Sugar – Nicole M. Avena, Ph.D

The formula used to create the values you see in their tables takes a 100-gram sample of food, measures how many grams of sugar are in the sample and adds 75% of the non-fiber, non-sugar carbohydrate grams to account for the fact that starches can also cause increases in glucose and insulin levels.

As a general guideline, foods with sugar equivalency scores under 5 are acceptable in healthy diets. Foods scoring between 5 and 10 may be consumed but their quantity should be monitored. Scores over 10 should be greatly restricted or avoided altogether.

Most meats, poultry and seafood are devoid of sugar equivalents and many fruits and vegetables show modest sugar equivalents that promote healthy diets. In contrast, processed foods, including candy, cakes, cookies, crackers, chips and bread products, show sugar equivalents in the range of 50 to 70, which not only detract from healthy diets but also promote sugar dependency issues that can lead to persistent weight gains.

In addition to sugar equivalency scores you should be mindful of portion sizes, which have greatly increased in today’s society of food abundance.

Nicole and John prepared these tables to help you avoid sugar cravings that interfere with healthy habits of good nutrition in response to normal hunger patterns. Review their information carefully so that you know which foods to select and which foods to avoid in restaurants or when shopping in today’s grocery stores.

Bon Voyage to Better Health
Dr. Scheele and the Factor4 Marketing Team

Sugar Equivalency Table

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