Preference for food with sweet taste is innate. While this helped primitive man find ripe fruit, it contributes to the more than 350 calories the average adult in the United States consumes per day as sugar.

This amount is about three times the recommendation the American Heart Association released last month. This organization is concerned about the high sugar intake because it can increase blood triglyceride while depressing HDL, the "good cholesterol." Research also demonstrates a connection to higher body weight and risk of diabetes in those who are high sugar consumers.

Does the type of sugar make a difference? Yes.

Fructose has a negative effect on blood lipids, causes greater gain of belly fat, and deteriorates insulin sensitivity compared with consuming the same number of calories as glucose. However, few of us eat high amounts of fructose.

High fructose corn syrup, used in numerous processed foods, has been vilified as the culprit of the obesity epidemic. In fact, the fructose composition is almost the same as sucrose, common table sugar.

I'm not suggesting that HFCS is healthy, simply that it is no worse than sucrose.

Soft drinks are the largest contributor to sugar intake, providing a third of that consumed.

An article written by scientists and clinicians in the September issue of the New England Journal of Medicine proposed a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages that would result in an increase of about 15 percent to 20 percent in the cost but could also reduce 175 calories from the average consumer's diet.

High sugar foods are usually "empty" calories that contribute calories without other healthful nutrients. Most of us should read food labels to select foods that result in no more than 100 to 150 calories (between 25 and 35 grams) as sugar per day.