By: Guest Writer: Ed Zaborowski

How much sugar do we (as Americans) consume on a yearly basis?  I think the answer might surprise you.  Let’s do the math and find out how much sugar is in one non-diet carbonated soft drink.
The number of grams of sugar per 12 ounces of soft drink varies by brand but a good average is 40 grams.  This is equivalent to 10 teaspoons (yes, 10!).  This would be almost sickly sweet for most people’s taste if the sweetness wasn’t masked by the prodigious amount of sodium added.
So, let’s say you consume one 12 ounce soft drink per day for an entire year.  That would be
                40 grams x 365 = 14,600 grams of sugar per year
Since one ounce is approximately 28 grams, we have
                14,600 ÷ 28  521 ounces
And, since 16 oz = 1 pound we get
521 ÷ 16  33 pounds of sugar!
The next time you go to the grocery store, check out the sugar aisle.  Sugar is usually sold in 5 lb bags.  So, just from drinking one soft drink per day for a year, a person consumes the equivalent of 6 ½ of these bags of sugar!
The American Heart Association estimates that the average American consumes 125 lbs of sugar per year.  Obviously, if you drink one or more sugared soft drinks per day, the total is much higher.  Be a smart shopper (and consumer) and, the next time you need an answer, just do the math.