Side by side: fruit, sugars, snacks and drinks in tables

Comparing foods in the same portion helps you choose without guilt or myths. This guide brings together four tables, for fruit, sugars, snacks and drinks, with what studies show about each group. Values were calculated by us from food composition tables and may vary from one product to another.

Fruit in everyday portions: 16 fruits

Per 100 g, an apple and cola have almost the same sugar, but the fruit brings fiber and has to be chewed. In 120,877 adults, each extra daily serving of fruit came with about 220 g less weight gain over 4 years, and each serving of sugary drink with about 450 g more; 100% fruit juice was in between, with about 140 g more [1]. In 133,468 adults, sweeter fruits were not linked to gain either [2], and with the same calories, apple pieces led to eating less at lunch than applesauce or juice [3].

Choose whole fruit most of the time. Fruit in syrup usually has added sugar, and dried fruit packs more calories into the same weight [4]. Long-term studies rely on self-reported intake and show association, not cause.

Six sugars in one table, per 100 g and per 5 g

Honey, brown sugar and white sugar are close in calories. The difference lies in minerals, which show up per 100 g and nearly vanish per spoonful. Demerara sugar is not in the Brazilian table [5]; for it, check the label.

For comparison, 100 g of cooked pinto beans have 1.3 mg of iron and 255 mg of potassium [5]. The spoon changes the math too: 1 tablespoon of honey weighs 21 g, about 65 kcal, and one of white sugar 12.6 g, about 49 kcal [6]. Weigh your own spoon once.

In studies, 55 adults who had 50 g per day of honey, regular sugar or corn syrup, 2 weeks each, showed no difference in glucose, insulin or weight [7]. A review found small improvements with honey, mostly with low certainty and compared with the usual diet [8], and honey and brown sugar have more antioxidants than white sugar, measured in the food [9]. The World Health Organization counts all of them as free sugars and suggests less than 10% of daily calories, about 50 g of sugar on a 2,000 kcal diet [10].

12 snacks in the same 30 g portion

The table number is a prediction: in whole almonds, measured energy was 129 kcal per 28 g, versus 168 to 170 kcal predicted [11], while in almond butter the measurement matched the prediction [12]. People who ate whole peanuts excreted more fat than those who ate peanut butter or oil [13].

In 25 adults who added 20 kcal per kilogram per day for 2 weeks, weight rose with sweets and did not increase significantly with peanuts [14]. In 15 adults eating about 505 kcal of peanuts per day for 8 weeks, 66% of those calories were offset by eating less of everything else, and weight gain was 1 kg versus 3.6 kg predicted [15]. These are short, small studies; peanuts still add calories, and people with allergies must avoid them.

Counting each drink: alcohol and calories

The math uses volume, alcohol content, the density of alcohol (0.789 g per mL) and 7 kcal per gram; only the alcohol counts, and sugar and mixers add more. The reference is the US standard drink, about 14 g of alcohol [16]. If you do not drink, there is no reason to start.

In tests with young adults, those who drank ate an average of 82 kcal more and 256 kcal more in total [17]. Alcohol brings sleep on faster and increases awakenings in the second half of the night [18], and in 4,098 Finns, heart-based recovery fell more the higher the dose [19]. After training, about 12 drinks reduced muscle protein production by 24%, even with 25 g of protein [20]; 1 g of alcohol per kilogram reduced strength [21], and 0.5 g per kilogram did not [22].

• Check the alcohol content on the label and use the table.
• Do not swap a meal for a drink: have your meal with protein at the usual time.
• Avoid drinking to fall asleep and, on heavy training days, put recovery first.
• Never drive after drinking.

How CatLena uses it

On the Nutrition screen, every fruit, spoon of sugar, snack or drink you log goes into the day’s total with energy, protein, carbohydrate, fat and fiber. In the example below, the day’s energy was 1,204 kcal, with 24 g of fiber out of a 43 g target. One guava, with 10.5 g of fiber, would close a good part of that gap.

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