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by abtinf 4008 days ago
That may seem low by the amounts of sugar you are used to using. But its high in terms of human homeostasis.

Consider this:

Normal human blood sugar [1]: 70-100 milligrams per deciliter of blood.

Blood volume of average human [2]: 5.5 liters

Thus, total blood sugar in non-diabetic human: 3.85 to 5.5 grams

Density of glucose: 1.54 grams per cubic centimeter

Thus, total volume of sugar in average human: 2.5 to 3.6 milliliters

In other words, your body does its best to cap the amount of sugar flowing through you at about one-half teaspoon. A 12 ounce can of coke has 39 grams of sugar, or 7-10 times what the human body considers normal. Its a tremendous shock to the system - the resulting insulin response sends your body on a roller coaster of hormone regulation.

So the WHO recommendation is actually a lot more strict than it might seem at first glance. Not only should your total sugar intake be capped at a low level, it should also be spread throughout the day.

[1] https://www.virginiamason.org/whatarenormalbloodglucoselevel...

[2] http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=21...

Edit: This is the whole point about trying to eat low-glycemic index foods.