Did you know that on average people in the U.S. eat 152 pounds of sugar in one year. This is roughly 3 pounds a week and surprisingly, Americans are not the biggest consumers of sugar in the world. Sugar and sweeteners are in so much of what we consume we often are not even aware of it. Recent studies have shown sugars and some sweeteners are addictive and in the vast majority of studies it has been proven that over consumption of these sugars and sweeteners have a negative and even toxic effect on the body.

Most nutritionists recommend your sugar intake should not exceed 6 to 7 percent of your daily calories. For example, if your calorie intake is around 2,700 per day, you should limit your sugar to 47 grams. So just consuming two or more of the more popular sports drinks for example and you will have exceeded the daily-recommended amount and then some.

The following is an overview on the different types of sugar and common sweeteners. Hopefully this will be helpful information and I would recommend you always check food labels to verify sugar content and carbohydrate content. Use common sense and minimize your sugar intake.

Here is a list of the most common sugars:

Sucrose

Glucose and fructose together make sucrose, or plain white table sugar, brown sugar and powdered sugar.

Fructose

This fruit-juice concentrate is almost twice as sweet as sucrose, and it's attached to all the natural nutrients of fruit and fruit juice, but it causes stomach upset in some people.

Glucose

The basic sugar unit in the blood, glucose is often listed on labels as dextrose. It's the body's immediate source of cellular energy, so you'll see it a lot in sports drinks.

Lactose

A mildly sweet, naturally occurring sugar found in milk and dairy products like yogurt. For many people, it can be a challenge to digest.

Here is a list of the most common sweeteners. Many of which can be very unhealthy to consume.

High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)

First, let's review high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in our diet. On average, people in the U.S. consume more than 60 pounds per person per year of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). I became aware of the negative aspects of this sweetener when I noticed my very normal and loving child become a creature from some Sci-Fi film when he consumed HFCS.

Let's look at the makeup of regular sugar and what makes up HFCS. Regular sugar (sucrose) is made of two-sugar molecules bound together, glucose and fructose, in equal amounts. Your digestive tract then breaks down the sucrose into glucose and fructose, which are absorbed into the body. HFCS is also made up of glucose and fructose, but not in equal amounts like regular sugar, but 55-45 fructose to glucose ratio in an unbound form. Keeping in mind fructose is sweeter than glucose, it makes HFCS a very effective sweetener. The fact that how HFCS is made is a closely protected secret and the fact that the biochemical make up allows HFCS to enter the bloodstream very quickly, some research suggests 10 times faster than regular sugar, makes this a sweetener on steroids. There is so much controversy plus mixed data on both the adverse effects of HFCS and the corn industry claiming that their product is a harmless natural "corn sugar," that my son and I always avoid consumption and therefore I am reading lots of food labels when shopping.

Saccharin

Also known as Sweet'N Low, it was discovered in 1879. One of the world's most widely used (and tested) lab-made foods, its been both embraced and controversial for its entire existence. Like HFCS, the facts and data to whether Saccharin has adverse health effects is an ongoing debate. Again, avoidance or minimal intake is your best bet.

Sucralose

This is a fairly recent sweetener on the market. It's also the least controversial artificial sweetener because many people find its taste to be very good. It is 600 times sweeter than regular sugar and research on adverse health effects has been far less controversial.

Aspartame

This non-saccharide sweetener, which is in hundreds of products, is up to 200 times sweeter than regular sugar, so tiny amounts go a long way. The safety of aspartame has been the subject of much controversy. The FDA has found small amounts do not present any health risks, but many independent studies have shown evidence to the contrary. I tend to go with a simple rule, artificial is not organic, so I avoid artificial sweeteners.

Acesulfame K

An artificial sweetener found in many diet drinks, often combined with aspartame and sucralose. Has a mildly bitter aftertaste compared with other substitutes. This artificial sweetener is as sweet as Aspartame and has many of the same aspects.

I think we can all agree that in the U.S., we consume too much sugar - whether natural or artificial. Our over-consumption of sugar has led to a number of health concerns: Diabetes, obesity and poor nutrition to list a few. Over the last 40 years consumption of sugar has actually gone down in the United States but only to be replaced with more toxic artificial sweeteners. These artificial sweeteners have seen huge increases in consumption since the 1970s and are still growing in popularly today.

For a healthier lifestyle reduce your sugar intake. Be aware of what you're consuming and try to substitute sugary drinks with water and replace sugary snacks with veggies. Reducing sugar in your diet could be one of the most significant changes to your health you can make.

Judd Jones is a director for the Hagadone Corporation.