Most non-nutritive sweeteners do not improve the moisture or tenderness of baked goods. All nutritive sweeteners, except sugars found in alcohol, provide 4 calories per gram, or 16 calories per teaspoon. Compared with fat, which has 9 calories per gram, sugars, like other carbohydrates , are lower in calories. The problem comes when people eat too many sugary foods. The average American eats 20 teaspoons of sugar per day.
Sugar is added to many foods to improve flavor.
People often are not aware they are eating so much sugar. Government guidlines recommend eating sugar and sugary foods only occasionally. Fatty foods and sweets appear at the top and smallest part of the Food Guide Pyramid. These include brown, powdered, granulated, and raw. These sugars come from sucrose made from sugar cane or sugar beets.