Soft drinks are regularly cited as one of the top causes of obesity and tooth decay in Australia: yet we still quaff them by the gallon. You know it's bad for you - you may have even tried to quit - but that highly addictive sugar hit will always have you in its thrall.

This infographic breaks down the sugar content in five popular drinks; from Coke to Powerade. The ranking might actually surprise you. (Who would have thought a certain iced tea would be worse than Red Bull?)

Dear Lifehacker, My friend keeps telling me to stop drinking fruit juice because "it's basically just sugar". She also claims it's just as bad as Coca-Cola. I've done some online research but can't find a definitive answer on this. Surely juice is healthier than sugary soft drinks? Or do I really need to quit? (I mainly drink bottled '100%' apple juice and OJ.)

With the exception of cherry tomatoes - which are good pretty much all year - I try to avoid buying tomatoes until at least mid-summer, as purchasing them outside their season usually leads to disappointment. But I'm not perfect, and the other day I slipped up and bought (quite) a few on the vine. They were, as one would expect, a little lacklustre in the flavour department.

Store bought muffins are huge, and full of sugar and calories. That makes them a dessert, a treat, an indulgence - at which point you might as well get something tasty like a doughnut instead. Bonus: the doughnut probably has less sugar anyway.

Sugar has detrimental effects on our health, and not just because sweet foods tend to have a lot of kilojoules. Plenty of research has shown that the same kilojoules of sugar versus other foods do very different things to our bodies. And new research shows how the sugar industry has tried to hide those findings.

A recent study found that sweet snacks were associated with depression in men, but not women. Does sugar have special powers to bum men out? Probably not. Let's dig in.

The more I use miso, the more I become convinced that other flavouring agents are simply not needed. Not only does it render soups, dips and desserts totally addictive, but it makes one heck of a delicious marinade.

A recent article published in the Medical Journal of Australia found that Australian and European soft drinks contained higher concentrations of glucose, and less fructose, than soft drinks in the United States. The total glucose concentration of Australian soft drinks was on average 22% higher than in US formulations.

We know too much sugar is bad for us, but do different sugars have different health effects? Let's take a look at the science.

There are many brands of kids' “vitamin gummies” on the market. They are promoted as deliciously flavoured and a great way for growing bodies (and fussy eaters) to get the nutrients they need. In our opinion, these products are unhealthy, poorly regulated and exploitative. Their high sugar content may appeal to young children, but they’re not a good introduction to a healthy diet.

Juice is liquid lollies. Sure, it has a few more vitamins than your average can of Coke, but it also has more sugar. Your days of pretending it's healthy are over: official health bodies have finally found the guts to tell us to stop giving juice to babies.

Sugar isn't inherently bad for you, but producers add so much of the stuff to their food and drink it's way past overkill. Trouble is, a number like "20g of sugar" on a nutrition label isn't easy to comprehend. This trick will help.

Some of us can definitely say we have a sweet tooth. Whether it’s cakes, chocolates, cookies, lollies or soft drinks, our world is filled with intensely pleasurable sweet treats. Sometimes eating these foods is just too hard to resist. But is it actually "additive" in a biological sense? Let's take a look at the science.

Eating a vegan diet seems straightforward: avoid eating animals and things that come from animals, like dairy, eggs, and honey. But there are a few, seemingly vegan products out there that contain sneaky animal byproducts you may not have even heard of.

Artificial sweeteners have become popular for people who want to reduce their sugar intake for health or weight reasons. You probably recognise some of them by their brand name: Sucralose (Splenda), saccharin (Sweet and Low), aspartame (Equal) and stevia (used by a number of brands). Each has varying levels of sweetness and uses.

Despite the fact that sugar alcohols are used in many foods, they remain somewhat of a mystery to people. As a replacement for sugar, they may benefit you. Authority Nutrition helps us break down the details.

Oil and acid are the stars of the vinaigrette, but to make sure the flavours in your dressing really pop, you need a little sugar, sugar.

It's hard to eat healthy when there's so much junk food to choose from -- but some of the most sugary foods have managed to convince a lot of us that they are healthy. A recent New York Times survey finds that most people overestimate the healthiness of orange juice, frozen yogurt and especially granola bars.

While Australia doesn't list added sugars on food labels, perhaps it should. Added sugars will be required on new labels rolling out in the US in a year or two. A 570g Pepsi will have to say it contains 130 per cent of your daily value of added sugar. Yogurt will have to call out their added sugar, so people can't kid themselves that it all comes from fruit. Food companies fought the change, but they lost.

Yes, sugar industry, you are right: Added sugars are made of the same stuff as natural sugars. But the FDA's new labels are about health, not about getting the right answer on a chemistry quiz. It's really useful to know which foods contain a ton of added sugars.

If you're an average-sized adult eating and drinking enough to maintain a healthy body weight, you should consume no more than 12 teaspoons of sugar per day. But what does this translate to when it comes to popular foods and beverages? We investigate.