Sugar on a food table is written in grams. A whole egg is 0.2 g of sugars in 100 g. 1 There is almost no sugar in an egg. A sweet packet has more. The NHS counts a gram of carbohydrate at about 4 kcal, and sugar is part of carbohydrate, so ten grams of sugar is about 40 kcal. 4
WHO asks you to keep free sugars under a tenth of the energy you eat. On a 2,000 kcal day the page puts that near 50 g, and it also describes a lower line near 25 g. 2 The NHS says an adult should have no more than 30 g of free sugars a day. 3
The NHS says eating too much sugar can make you gain weight and can also cause tooth decay. 3 Too much sugar can add calories, and those extra calories can lead to weight gain. Sugars already in milk, fruit and vegetables are not the free sugars that page asks adults to limit.
Each serving adds its sugar to the day
Two bottles that each list 12 g of added sugar come to 24 g. A Horlicks Protein milkshake beside it lists 0 added sugar in 240 ml, and 171 kcal for the bottle, so the drink does not add to those 15 g. The powder sachet is separate, 24 g of protein and 4 g of prebiotic fibre in 36 g, stirred into 200 ml of cold water or milk. Any sugar in that glass is printed on the milk.
One gram of sugar is about 4 kcal
A dessert that lists 15 g of added sugar is about 60 kcal from that sugar. If the whole serving is 200 kcal, the other 140 kcal come from the rest of the food. The same day can hold an egg, which has almost no sugar, and that dessert at 15 g. Eat half the dessert and the added sugar is about 7.5 g.
A serving that lists 20 g of added sugar and 180 kcal has about 80 kcal from the sugar and about 100 kcal from the rest of the food. Eat half and you are at about 10 g of added sugar. The milkshake beside it still adds 0 g of added sugar, and its own 171 kcal.
A dessert with 15 g of added sugar is one part of the daily limit while an egg adds almost no sugar.
Sugar on a packet and in a Horlicks Protein bottle
When you add up a day, start with the packet. If it says 15 g of added sugar, count 15 g. Mixing the powder into milk does not change the sachet's 24 g of protein or its 4 g of prebiotic fibre. Any sugar in that glass comes from the milk you used.
Summing this up
Summing this up, eating too much sugar can make you gain weight and can cause tooth decay. A label and a food table let you follow sugar as grams, and those grams carry energy. An egg has almost none, about 0.2 g of sugars in 100 g. A sweetened serving adds the grams it prints. Each gram is about 4 kcal, so 10 g is about 40 kcal. On a 2,000 kcal day, WHO's limit for free sugars is under 10% of energy, about 50 g. The NHS says no more than 30 g of free sugars for an adult. A Horlicks Protein milkshake lists 0 added sugar, so the bottle adds no sugar. Its 171 kcal is the energy of the whole drink.
Sources
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USDA FoodData Central. Eggs, Grade A, Large, egg whole. FDC 748967.
https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-search/?query=748967&type=Foundation -
World Health Organization. Healthy diet.
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/healthy-diet -
NHS. Sugar: the facts.
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/food-types/how-does-sugar-in-our-diet-affect-our-health/ -
NHS. Fat: the facts. Carbohydrate is counted at about 4 kcal a gram.
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/food-types/different-fats-nutrition/