SugarsRather

SugarsRather is a term used in nutrition discourse to describe a conceptual metric that expresses the share of total dietary sugars derived from added sugars relative to naturally occurring sugars in whole foods. Higher values indicate a greater contribution from added sugars, while lower values reflect sugars from intact foods such as fruits and dairy.

The term is a neologism combining 'sugar' and 'rather' to signal a comparative orientation toward sugar sources rather than total intake. It appears in discussions of dietary quality, public health messaging, and nutrition research that distinguishes added from natural sugars.

Calculation usually expresses SugarsRather as a percentage of total sugar intake coming from added sugars. It relies on dietary data or sales data with foods classified by sugar source, using standard food composition databases. Definitions of added sugars follow health authority guidelines; the metric can be computed over daily, weekly, or longer periods, and may be reported with grams in addition to percent.

Applications include comparing sugar-source patterns across populations, evaluating policy impacts, and guiding consumer education. Limitations involve potential misclassification, reporting biases, and reliance on accurate intake data.

Example: if total sugar intake is 100 g with 60 g from added sugars, SugarsRather equals 60 percent. This concept is a descriptive tool and is not a clinical diagnosis.