Sugar, ah honey honey. You are my candy girl....

As we enter the Valentines season, I can't help but think about Chocolate, and sugar. I have been on a quest of late to remove excess sugar in our diets, sometimes much to my families dismay. And while we will never get rid of all sugar, not would I want to, I have been working to educate myself a bit more about it, so that when we are having "treats" we know what we are getting. In the end, while I profess to NEED chocolate, I want know what that chocolate is doing to me.

I did some digging on the web, and it did require some digging, no one really seems to want to give a cold hard number of how much sugar we should be consuming on a daily basis. I did find a news segment from MSNBC from 2006 which indicates that adults should consume no more than 32 grams of sugar per day. That is a TOTAL of 32 grams per day. That is roughly the equivalent of 8 teaspoons, seems like a lot, until you really start looking.

Here is a list of some of my Chocolate haunts and the grams of sugar they contain.

• Skittles = 47g (not chocolate, but I had to include, wow!)
• 3 Musketeers = 40g
• Baby Ruth = 33g
• Junior Mints = 32g
• Hershey's Milk Chocolate bar = 31g
• Snickers = 30g
• Reese's Peanutbutter cups = 25g
• Krackel = 24g
• Kit Kat (personal favorite) = 22g
• Mounds (sometimes you don't) = 21g
• 100 Grand (another fav) 21 grams
• Almond Joy (because sometimes you feel like a nut) = 20g

Wow, nothing like shooting all your sugar grams for the day on one candy bar. But where else in our diets are we getting sugar. First lets look at the obvious, sweetened drinks.

• SoBe Green Tea 20oz = 61 (and you would think green tea was good for you)
• Mello Yello 12oz can = 48g
• Mountain Dew 12oz can = 47g
• Barq's Rootbeer 12 oz can = 45g
• Dr. Pepper 12oz can = 41g
• Coke Classic 12 oz can = 40.5g
• Pepsi 12oz can = 40g
• 7 up 12oz can = 37g
• Lipton Brisk Lemon Iced Tea 12oz can = 33g
• Chocolate milk = 24g

Grab and 20oz bottle of pop and a candy bar and you could be nearing a weeks worth of sugar intake in one small snack. But those are the obvious places sugar is lurking check out some of these not so obvious offenders.

• DelMonte Fruit Chillers Frozen Fruit Sorbet: 1 small individual cup = 26g
• DelMonte diced pears or mandarin oranges in light syrup: 1 small serving cup = 17g (I love these)
• Hunt’s Snack Pack Pudding, Chocolate Mud Pie: 1 snack pack = 20g
• Hostess Ho Hos: 3 cakes = 42g (looks like Ho Ho's are No No's)
• Pop Tart, Chocolate Fudge: 1 pastry = 20g (and with 2 to a pack, no one eats just one)
• Prego Fresh Mushroom Italian Sauce: 1/2 cup = 11g
• Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey Barbecue Sauce: 2 tablespoons = 15g
• Yoplait Original 99% fat free, Lemon Burst: 6 ounces = 31 g
• Hershey's syrup 2 tablespoons = 20g
• Heinz Ketchup 1 tablespoon = 4 g

Eating out might also garner more sugar than you had anticipated, check out a few from McDonalds (their site actually has a good amount of nutrition information, kudos)

• Strawberry Triple Thick® Shake (32 fl oz cup) = 168g (yep that's 5 days worth!)
• Nonfat Hazelnut Latte (Large) = 55g
• Hot Fudge Sundae = 48g
• Snack Size Fruit & Walnut Salad = 25g
• Fruit 'n Yogurt Parfait (7 oz) = 21g
• Premium Grilled Chicken Club Sandwich = 12g
• Premium Southwest Salad with Crispy Chicken = 12g
• Big Mac = 9g
• Hamburger = 6g

So, shall we sharpen the pitch forks and start the crusade to rid ourselves of all sugar? No, absolutely not. It is all just information. Start to make better choices for yourself and your body.

The American Heart Association is recommending a bit stricter number at 6 teaspoons for women which is about 24g. There is some great information in this Wall Street Journal article.

So, as Valentine's approaches and you are thinking of your loved ones, be sweet, but watch the sweets.