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Think fast! Out of everything you’ve eaten or drank today already, how much sugar was in all of it? Chances are that by the end of the day the amount you’ll have eaten might be somewhere around 22 teaspoons. That shouldn’t be too surprising though; it’s in so many things that we consume every day and besides salt it’s easily the most pervasive food additive used by Americans.

Today’s infographic from Forbes.com shows us just how much sugar we’re consuming as a nation each year, and the numbers are pretty incredible. The American Heart Association recommends a maximum of 9.5 teaspoons of sugar per day; not only do we consume more than twice that every day on average, but a can of soda has 10 teaspoons already and we drink 53 gallons of the stuff every year!

The obvious problem with this extreme amount of sugar consumption is the toll that it can take on your health. In addition to the better-known sugar-related health complications like diabetes and obesity, people can experience aching limbs, depression, and hypertension from too much sugar. From this perspective, a can of soda can really cost a lot more than $1.

For more information on America’s sugar consumption refer to the infographic below. [Via]

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