People are freaking out about the amount of sugar that’s actually in Starbucks’ drinks

When the USDA released the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans for 2015-2020, many became hung up on a handful of points, like the news that men and boys need to consume less meat and eggs and that five cups of coffee a day are a-okay.

But some may have glossed over the part that recommended that Americans seriously cut their added sugar intake to just 10 percent of their daily calories, a direct shot at sugar-loaded sodas, “nutritional” granola bars, and possibly flavored Starbucks drinks, which according to a new study are packed with three times as much sugar as a can of soda.

According to the Action On Sugar campaign, 98 percent of the hot-flavored drinks sold at coffee chains in the U.K. contain insane amounts of added sugar with 35 percent of those drinks packing more than nine teaspoons of the sweet stuff. (Go home and measure that out; it’s a ridiculous amount of sugar, trust us.) For instance, Starbucks’ vanilla latte and caramel macchiato each contain more than eight teaspoons of sugar, though the company promises to cut that amount by 25 percent by 2020.

The problem is sugar addiction is real: While we have to acquire a taste for foods that are sour or spicy, every human being is born with a natural affinity for sugar, an affinity that food and drink manufacturers have played on for decades.

Health experts, though, say we all need to resist the temptation of added sugar if we want to avoid its negative health effects like heart disease and obesity. In fact, the World Health Organization recommends that everyone keep the added sugar to just 6 teaspoons per day or 25 grams of sugar. The best way to do that? Cut back on sweet drinks, especially those you might find at your local coffee shop.

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