This is the Truth About How Much Sugar Is in Your Favorite Easter Candy

Summer is coming! Some of us are starting to think about the idea of flaunting our winter bodies that might’ve been hibernating from health during the winter months, and want to try to get in shape for beach season. But before that, we have to get through Easter. And you know what that means? Candy. All the candy.

From chocolate bunnies to jelly beans and Reeses peanut butter eggs, it seems like Easter is just an excuse to load up on pounds of sugar. The problem with that is sugar is detrimental to our health. Besides being a culprit for heart disease and other issues, it also is a major cause of weight gain.

According to the American Heart Association, the maximum amount of added sugars you should eat in a day are seven. In total, their guidelines say that men can have 150 calories per day (37.5 grams or 9 teaspoons) and women can have 100 calories per day (25 grams or 6 teaspoons).

The problem is, the average American consumes much more than that: almost 152 pounds of sugar in one year. To put that into perspective, that’s equal to three pounds (or 6 cups) of sugar consumed in just a week alone.

If you’re not careful, you might find yourself eating that on Easter alone. You know that candy has a lot of sugar—duh—but you might be surprised at how much. Spoiler alert: It’s a LOT.

Ready for this? We’re sorry in advance.

We’ll rip the Band-Aid off slowly: Those Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs we were talking about earlier? In just one snack-size egg, you’re consuming 8 grams, or 2 teaspoons of sugar, not to mention it has 90 calories. Don’t forget, we said these are the snack-sized ones, so the larger ones are double these stats.

How about Cadbury Creme Eggs? You know, those decadent balls of chocolately gooey goodness. Are you scared? You should be. One egg contains a total of 20 grams or 5 teaspoons of sugar. And who eats just one anyway? Meh.

Even if you get dark chocolate varieties on Easter, that doesn’t usually change the sugar count. Take Dove Dark Chocolate eggs. In six of those little babies (one serving size), you’re looking at 20 grams of sugar (equivalent to 5 teaspoons), and a whopping 220 calories.

Not much of a chocolate person? Then you must err towards Peeps Marshmallow Bunnies. One serving size is four of the squishy, sugary mallows, and contains a whopping 26 grams, or 6.5 teaspoons, or sugar. Though less calories than the Cadbury egg (a total of 110 in four), the sugar content is more than a woman should eat in a day alone according to the AHA guidelines.

It keeps getting worse for here. Let’s talk jelly beans. A typical serving size of these sweet, chewy candies is 35 beans, which comes to a grand total of 28 grams of sugar, or about 7 teaspoons.

All right, we’ll stop. Know this: A little sugar is fine in moderation, so don’t try to limit the stuff completely. But hopefully you can control those Easter basket cravings and not go too crazy this holiday.

Did you know these classic Easter candies had that much sugar? What’s your favorite from this list?