The American Heart Association recommends men consume no more than 36 grams of added sugar per day, which works out to about 9 teaspoons or 150 calories. That’s the most widely cited limit, but depending on your activity level and overall diet, the number that matters for you could be higher or lower.
What the Major Guidelines Say
Three major health organizations have weighed in on sugar limits, and their numbers don’t perfectly align. The American Heart Association sets the strictest target: 36 grams (9 teaspoons) of added sugar per day for men. The USDA’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend keeping added sugars below 10% of your total daily calories. For a man eating around 2,500 calories, that’s roughly 62 grams, nearly double the AHA figure.
The World Health Organization lands in between. Its primary recommendation matches the USDA at under 10% of total calories, but it adds a conditional recommendation that dropping below 5%, roughly 25 grams (6 teaspoons), provides additional health benefits. If you want a single number to aim for, 36 grams is the most conservative and protective target from a major health authority.
Added Sugar vs. Natural Sugar
These limits apply specifically to added sugars, not the sugar naturally present in whole fruits, vegetables, or plain dairy. Your body processes all sugar molecules the same way, but the sugar in a whole apple comes packaged with fiber, water, and nutrients that slow absorption and keep the total amount modest. A can of soda delivers a concentrated hit of sugar with nothing to buffer it. Your body doesn’t need any added sugar to function. Every gram is nutritionally optional.
On food labels, look for the “Added Sugars” line nested under “Total Sugars” in the Nutrition Facts panel. The FDA sets the daily value for added sugars at 50 grams based on a 2,000-calorie diet, so 100% DV on a label means 50 grams. One quirk: pure honey, maple syrup, and bags of table sugar aren’t required to list grams of added sugars, only the percent daily value.
How Quickly 36 Grams Disappears
A single 16-ounce energy drink can contain 54 grams of sugar, blowing past the daily limit in one serving. Even less obvious choices add up fast. A glass of sweetened vanilla almond milk has about 15 grams. Two tablespoons of chocolate hazelnut spread contribute 20 grams. A cup of canned tomato sauce can have over 18 grams, much of it added during processing.
To visualize any of these numbers, divide grams by four. That gives you teaspoons. So 20 grams is 5 teaspoons of sugar, and 36 grams is 9 teaspoons. Picture spooning that into a bowl before breakfast, and the daily limit starts to feel very real.
Condiments tend to fly under the radar. Thousand island dressing has about 2.5 grams per tablespoon, and most people use far more than one tablespoon. Russian dressing runs about 3.5 grams per tablespoon. These aren’t deal-breakers on their own, but they stack onto everything else you eat that day.
Why the Limit Matters for Men’s Health
Excess sugar doesn’t just add empty calories. Fructose, which makes up roughly half of table sugar and high-fructose corn syrup, bypasses the normal energy regulation steps your body uses to process other nutrients. This leads to increased fat production in the liver, lower cellular energy levels, and a cascade of metabolic effects that build over time. The result is a higher risk of obesity, insulin resistance, and cardiovascular disease, a cluster of conditions known as metabolic syndrome.
What makes this particularly relevant for men is that visceral fat (the deep abdominal fat linked to metabolic syndrome) tends to accumulate more readily in men than in women. High sugar intake accelerates that process. Research from CU Anschutz Medical Campus highlights that the body can even produce fructose internally from glucose, meaning the metabolic effects may extend beyond what you eat. Keeping added sugar low reduces the raw material fueling this cycle.
If You’re Physically Active
Men who train at high intensity or for long durations have higher carbohydrate needs overall, and some of those carbs can come from simple sugars without the same health concerns. During exercise lasting longer than an hour, or during high-intensity sports like basketball or soccer, a sports drink with sugar serves a functional purpose: it restores energy quickly when your muscles are burning through glycogen.
This doesn’t mean active men get a blank check on sugar. The 36-gram guideline applies to your baseline diet. Sugar consumed during or immediately after intense exercise fills a specific performance and recovery role. Outside that window, the metabolic effects of excess sugar are the same whether you run marathons or sit at a desk. The practical approach is to keep sugar in your regular meals and snacks within the recommended range and treat workout fuel as a separate category.
Reading Labels Effectively
The fastest way to manage your intake is to check the “Added Sugars” line on every packaged food you buy. Anything with more than 8 to 10 grams per serving deserves a second look, because two servings would eat up more than half your daily budget. Watch for serving size tricks: a bottle of sweetened tea might list 15 grams per serving but contain 2.5 servings per bottle, totaling nearly 38 grams.
Sugar also hides behind dozens of names in ingredient lists. You don’t need to memorize them all. If something ends in “-ose” (sucrose, dextrose, maltose) or involves syrup, honey, or juice concentrate, it counts as added sugar. The Nutrition Facts panel does the math for you, so the “Added Sugars” line is more reliable than scanning ingredients.