Some important facts about sugar:

• FACT: The average American consumes more than three times the recommended U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) amount of sugar. That means we are eating over 120 grams of sugar a day (about a half a cup or the size of a light bulb) (based on figures from 2000).
• FACT: Sugar intake is linked to obesity. One of the biggest problems is that refined sugar is contained in most packaged and restaurant foods. Refined sugar comes disguised under the names glucose, fructose, corn syrup, and more. Just because the ingredients don't say "sugar" doesn't mean there wasn't any sugar in your food. So in general, you really need to try to cut out canned, pre-packaged and restaurant foods as much as possible.
• FACT: The average American should consume less than 40 grams (about 2 tablespoons or the size of a golf ball) of "added sugars" per day (these are man-made sugars or added table sugar, not the ones that are found naturally in fruits, vegetables, and starches.