At Walmart today picking up some sugar for our seasonal candy making I was struck by the new packaging marketing the caloric amount in the sugar. Now at first glance you think "Wow, only 15 calories? Awesome!" Then you take a little closer look and it says "per teaspoon." It amazes me what companies will do to sell a product. I searched for sugar without this label and came up short. The next thing I will expect to see is "gluten free." Both are true but both are equally ridiculous.
The obvious truth is that sugar is an empty calorie. So no matter how big or little you consume the calories are not serving any purpose in your body other than to excite your taste buds. And if you do not expend energy to burn those 15 calories it will end up adding to your waistline. This is not a big deal if you are putting a few teaspoons in your morning coffee. But if you hit starbucks up for a tall holiday beverage (46g) and tasty treat (78g) you are already at a whopping. So at 4 calories a gram your total damage is 496 calories. That is 1/4 of the calories needed in a day for most individuals.

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