Take a swig of your daily caramel frappuccino or chomp on that cookie, and you're already clocking up much more sugar than you should be. Welcome to the diabetes party! All jokes aside, the sugar 'spoonfuls of disaster' that most American adults intake on average – a whopping 77 grams per day – wreak more havoc on your health than just being a ticket for Diabetes Express. We're talking about a sad party list with obesity, heart disease, depression, certain cancers, and gout to ring just a few bells.

How sweet is too sweet, you ask? The Honey Bunch of Scientists undertook an extensive review, inspecting 73 previous meta-analyses that linked sugar with a whole bunch of ailments. And voila, they reached a number which you should now tattoo on your brain – 25 grams. That's right, limit your daily added sugar to about 6 teaspoons and not more if you care about your health.

Ah, but hold on, you can't lump everything sweet into this villain category! Talking real sweet, if the sugar is natural from fruits or dairy, feel free to munch on without a worry! But if it's the added or 'free' sugar hiding in your soft drinks, energy drinks, cookies or even your sneaky pasta sauces or peanut butter, put that jar down right now!

And to the caregivers, yes, you've got the toughest job. Raising children into healthy adults means fighting not only their sweet tooth but also the manipulative marketing strategies. While it's important to teach about limiting sugar intake, don't demonize it. Make them see the sweetness in a juicy apple or berries. Guide them to enjoy the occasional treat and thus foster a healthy relationship with all kinds of foods.

The crux of the matter? Six teaspoons, always remember, no more than six teaspoons. Life is already sweet, don't let sugar turn it bitter.