Too much natural sugar?
LucyJones195
Posts: 21 Member
Hi everyone. I have been doing Slimming World in the UK where they encourage you to include 1/3 of each meal of speed food which is low density fruit or veg. As a consequence I have got into the habit of eating lots of fruit and vegetable. I am now logging my food on here and it is showing I am eating too much sugar 
despite no other sweet foods being eaten. Any suggestions to get around this problem ... Other than carrot sticks! Thanks x
despite no other sweet foods being eaten. Any suggestions to get around this problem ... Other than carrot sticks! Thanks x0
Replies
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Carrot actually has more sugar than you'd think.
MFP's sugar setting is quite low and it doesn't differentiate between natural and added sugar. I switched that column to fiber rather than sugar.0 -
Closed diary so can't see, but you should have a sugar target of at least 48 grams and that's not hard to live within especially if you avoid the high sugar fruits like grapes and banana.
I can eat a pound of veg and have less than 20 grams of sugar. Try the Aussie approach of 5 servings of vegetables and 2 of fruit.0 -
Ignore it. If you are getting your sugars from fruits and vegetable, you are eating far healthier than the average person.0
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unless you have diabetes or another medical condition where you need to avoid sugar...don't worry about it.0
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If you're doing Slimming World, I hope you're counting the calories from all of your "free" foods where they tell you it's unnecessary to weigh, measure, or count:Slimming World provides detailed lists of foods that can be eaten in unlimited quantities. Fresh fruit and most veg are classified as Superfree Foods because they are so low in calories. Free Foods include lean meat, chicken, fish, potatoes, rice, pasta, grains, pulses, starchy veg, eggs, fat-free dairy products, Quorn and tofu.0
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If you're doing Slimming World, I hope you're counting the calories from all of your "free" foods where they tell you it's unnecessary to weigh, measure, or count:Slimming World provides detailed lists of foods that can be eaten in unlimited quantities. Fresh fruit and most veg are classified as Superfree Foods because they are so low in calories. Free Foods include lean meat, chicken, fish, potatoes, rice, pasta, grains, pulses, starchy veg, eggs, fat-free dairy products, Quorn and tofu.
how would rice and pasta be free? One two ounce serving of linguine is 200 calories, that does not sound free to me...0 -
My suggestion would be to switch out sugar for fiber on you diary.0
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If you're doing Slimming World, I hope you're counting the calories from all of your "free" foods where they tell you it's unnecessary to weigh, measure, or count:Slimming World provides detailed lists of foods that can be eaten in unlimited quantities. Fresh fruit and most veg are classified as Superfree Foods because they are so low in calories. Free Foods include lean meat, chicken, fish, potatoes, rice, pasta, grains, pulses, starchy veg, eggs, fat-free dairy products, Quorn and tofu.
how would rice and pasta be free? One two ounce serving of linguine is 200 calories, that does not sound free to me...
Because its a stupid fad!!
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Closed diary so can't see, but you should have a sugar target of at least 48 grams and that's not hard to live within especially if you avoid the high sugar fruits like grapes and banana.
45, actually, not that it's a huge difference. I can easily get about half that with veggies, so adding any dairy or fruit or perfectly moderate amounts of sweets will kick you over. Sure, you can adjust and hit it, but the question is whether there's really any benefit to doing so--specifically, to cutting down on fruits or avoiding bananas. I've never seen anything supporting such a claim.
OP, the limit is 15% of calories, which can be awfully low if you are on low calories (it's fine for me, but I tend to range between 1600 and 2000 currently), and it likely assumes that people aren't getting that much of their sugar from fruits and veggies just based on population averages. I think it makes more sense to watch carbs and fiber (if you are getting enough fiber your carbs are likely mostly not low nutrient sweets or the like) or simply to look at your diet and see where your sugar is coming from and assuming no surprises and it's not indicating that a disproportionate part of your diet is low-nutrient sugary things, I wouldn't worry about it.
The WHO has a lower limit (10% of calories with 5% recommended), but that's only free sugars (in other words, NOT sugar in fruit, dairy, and veggies). Their rationale is worth considering: too much free sugar can be an indicator that people are consuming too many calories or not eating enough nutrients overall. So use common sense and see if you are eating a good diet overall and within your calories. If so, I think you are fine. (And from what you say it sounds like you are.)0 -
I wouldn't worry about it, the natural sugars in fruits and vegetables are accompanied by lots of fiber, so your sugar levels won't spike and digestion will continue normally. it's perfectly healthy. i think the sugar feature of mfp is more to monitor added & artificial sugars in sodas and processed foods
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FREE PASTA?
WHERE-1 -
I wouldnt worry unless for a medical reason you have to control your blood sugar. Think id do MFP though becayse its really just cico, whereas lost of the others are just manufactured systems to pretend they have some special method and hope that it gets success. Cico and mfp are calories laid bare, its also got the best flexibility. Free anything is open to abuse and ive learned if im hungry I could eat a lot of fruit, veg etc and thereby defeat the system.0
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Closed diary so can't see, but you should have a sugar target of at least 48 grams and that's not hard to live within especially if you avoid the high sugar fruits like grapes and banana.
I can eat a pound of veg and have less than 20 grams of sugar. Try the Aussie approach of 5 servings of vegetables and 2 of fruit.
I think this is true. I had pasta, melon, strawberries and 5.5 servings of vegetables yesterday and didn't hit my sugar goal. I don't think that it's necessary to avoid bananas or grapes, if you like them, but it's possible to eat a varied diet that includes fruit and stay within the sugar goal.
Personally, I also think it's better to eat more vegetables than fruit, though many of my vegetables are fruits (tomatoes and squash, I'm looking at you).0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Closed diary so can't see, but you should have a sugar target of at least 48 grams and that's not hard to live within especially if you avoid the high sugar fruits like grapes and banana.
I can eat a pound of veg and have less than 20 grams of sugar. Try the Aussie approach of 5 servings of vegetables and 2 of fruit.
I think this is true. I had pasta, melon, strawberries and 5.5 servings of vegetables yesterday and didn't hit my sugar goal. I don't think that it's necessary to avoid bananas or grapes, if you like them, but it's possible to eat a varied diet that includes fruit and stay within the sugar goal.
Personally, I also think it's better to eat more vegetables than fruit, though many of my vegetables are fruits (tomatoes and squash, I'm looking at you).
It depends on what your goal is. Like I said above, at something like 1600 calories you can eat plenty of fruit and dairy, as well as veggies, and not go over. At 1200 calories and thus 45 grams it can be more challenging.
For example, I didn't log lunch yesterday (work thing), but with dinner and breakfast alone I had 28 grams of sugar, despite no dairy and only one small piece of fruit (a plum, 8 g sugar), so the rest (in two meals only) from veggies. If I'd added a standard size apple and ANY veggies for lunch or instead had a serving of one of my homemade pasta sauces (all sugar from tomatoes and veggies) plus some plain yogurt, I'd have been over the 45 gram limit.
I don't think people who have issues with 45 grams are necessarily eating mostly fruit and no veggies (I do tend to prioritize veggies over fruits in that I try to eat multiple servings of veggies with all meals and generally try to have a serving or two of fruit a day and don't much think about it beyond that, but the idea--which seems increasingly common--that fruit is to be worried about because sugar bothers me).0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Closed diary so can't see, but you should have a sugar target of at least 48 grams and that's not hard to live within especially if you avoid the high sugar fruits like grapes and banana.
I can eat a pound of veg and have less than 20 grams of sugar. Try the Aussie approach of 5 servings of vegetables and 2 of fruit.
I think this is true. I had pasta, melon, strawberries and 5.5 servings of vegetables yesterday and didn't hit my sugar goal. I don't think that it's necessary to avoid bananas or grapes, if you like them, but it's possible to eat a varied diet that includes fruit and stay within the sugar goal.
Personally, I also think it's better to eat more vegetables than fruit, though many of my vegetables are fruits (tomatoes and squash, I'm looking at you).
It depends on what your goal is. Like I said above, at something like 1600 calories you can eat plenty of fruit and dairy, as well as veggies, and not go over. At 1200 calories and thus 45 grams it can be more challenging.
For example, I didn't log lunch yesterday (work thing), but with dinner and breakfast alone I had 28 grams of sugar, despite no dairy and only one small piece of fruit (a plum, 8 g sugar), so the rest (in two meals only) from veggies. If I'd added a standard size apple and ANY veggies for lunch or instead had a serving of one of my homemade pasta sauces plus some plain yogurt, I'd have been over the 45 gram limit.
I don't think people who have issues with 45 grams are necessarily eating mostly fruit and no veggies (I do tend to prioritize veggies over fruits in that I try to eat multiple servings of veggies with all meals and generally try to have a serving or two of fruit a day and don't much think about it beyond that, but the idea--which seems increasingly common--that fruit is to be worried about because sugar bothers me).
I disagree that it's hard to get in your veggies and fruits on 1200. I eat 1200-1300 most weekdays and rarely even meet the MFP sugar goal, much less go over. I eat more veggies than fruit, but I eat fruit and cheese, especially this time of year because berries and goat cheese are SO good together. It's all the other treats that are hard for me to fit in. Those wait till the weekend.
I have no idea what other people who go over sugar eat, but the OP was asking about going over due to fruit.0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »I disagree that it's hard to get in your veggies and fruits on 1200.
I didn't say it was hard to get in your veggies and fruits. I said one can easily go over 45 grams of sugar with even on a day on which you eat 1-2 pieces of fruit and no dairy or 1 piece of fruit, one serving of plain greek yogurt, so long as you eat a pretty good amount of veggies (as is recommended). This is based on simply looking at the amount of sugar I regularly get from veggies.
Thus, I think worrying about staying under 45 grams isn't really important and claiming that it only happens if you eat some excessive amount of fruit isn't accurate (especially if one looks at the actual dietary guidelines).I eat 1200-1300 most weekdays and rarely even meet the MFP sugar goal, much less go over. I eat more veggies than fruit, but I eat fruit and cheese, especially this time of year because berries and goat cheese are SO good together. It's all the other treats that are hard for me to fit in. Those wait till the weekend.
I'm not including the "other treats" in this count. You don't need them to hit the numbers, IME.
Out of curiosity are you logging now? I thought you did not.I have no idea what other people who go over sugar eat, but the OP was asking about going over due to fruit.
I haven't looked at her diary, but her post references fruits and veggies.0 -
Sugar is a tough one for everybody. natural sugars, fructose vs sucrose, semi processed sugars, fake sugar, etc, etc. Ultimately, IMO, reducing my OVERALL sugar inatke has helped me lose & maintain my weight. Thats just me but it has worked. My daily calorie goal for maintaining is about 3,000 cals. Of that, I set my total sugar to be around 80 grams and I always stay under, sometimes well under.
The key is staying away from sweets and being mindful of fruits even though I do eat them. I "save" a lot of my sugar inatke for pancake syrup and stuff in the morning since Im addicted to pancakes these days.
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lemurcat12 wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »I disagree that it's hard to get in your veggies and fruits on 1200.
I didn't say it was hard to get in your veggies and fruits. I said one can easily go over 45 grams of sugar with even on a day on which you eat 1-2 pieces of fruit and no dairy or 1 piece of fruit, one serving of plain greek yogurt, so long as you eat a pretty good amount of veggies (as is recommended). This is based on simply looking at the amount of sugar I regularly get from veggies.
Thus, I think worrying about staying under 45 grams isn't really important and claiming that it only happens if you eat some excessive amount of fruit isn't accurate (especially if one looks at the actual dietary guidelines).I eat 1200-1300 most weekdays and rarely even meet the MFP sugar goal, much less go over. I eat more veggies than fruit, but I eat fruit and cheese, especially this time of year because berries and goat cheese are SO good together. It's all the other treats that are hard for me to fit in. Those wait till the weekend.
I'm not including the "other treats" in this count. You don't need them to hit the numbers, IME.
Out of curiosity are you logging now? I thought you did not.I have no idea what other people who go over sugar eat, but the OP was asking about going over due to fruit.
I haven't looked at her diary, but her post references fruits and veggies.
I usually log Mon-Fri since I'm trying to keep calories so low, but not on the weekends.0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »I disagree that it's hard to get in your veggies and fruits on 1200.
I didn't say it was hard to get in your veggies and fruits. I said one can easily go over 45 grams of sugar with even on a day on which you eat 1-2 pieces of fruit and no dairy or 1 piece of fruit, one serving of plain greek yogurt, so long as you eat a pretty good amount of veggies (as is recommended). This is based on simply looking at the amount of sugar I regularly get from veggies.
you don't seem to challenge 45g very often ? at least the last few days of diary.
If 15% of calories makes sense on maintenance (EU / Aus I think target 18%) then there could be an argument for less when restricting calories, as the protein and fats are more important, but the 15% seems to be derived from a logical approach. Seems weird everyone rushes to turn it off.
WHO's 5 a day of vegetables (and fruit) is 400 grams, at 11% sugar average that sneaks in under 45g. Plenty of low sugar veg are below half that.0 -
My friend, a calorie is a calorie is a calorie.
You're on MFP. Use it to keep your calories at a steady deficit and you Will lose weight.0 -
If you're not diabetic or have other medical conditions, you should be able to eat a lot of fruit sugar. For me, most of my carbs are fruit sugar.0
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beemerphile1 wrote: »Ignore it. If you are getting your sugars from fruits and vegetable, you are eating far healthier than the average person.
I agree. And if you're eating the full fruit, the fiber neutralizes the bad effects of the sugar anyway.
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beemerphile1 wrote: »Ignore it. If you are getting your sugars from fruits and vegetable, you are eating far healthier than the average person.
I agree. And if you're eating the full fruit, the fiber neutralizes the bad effects of the sugar anyway.
lol wut??????
so if I have met my fiber for the day and eat added sugar does it work that way too? or does evils added sugar trump fiber???0 -
beemerphile1 wrote: »Ignore it. If you are getting your sugars from fruits and vegetable, you are eating far healthier than the average person.
I agree. And if you're eating the full fruit, the fiber neutralizes the bad effects of the sugar anyway.
lol wut??????
so if I have met my fiber for the day and eat added sugar does it work that way too? or does evils added sugar trump fiber???
yes0 -
beemerphile1 wrote: »Ignore it. If you are getting your sugars from fruits and vegetable, you are eating far healthier than the average person.
I agree. And if you're eating the full fruit, the fiber neutralizes the bad effects of the sugar anyway.
lol wut??????
so if I have met my fiber for the day and eat added sugar does it work that way too? or does evils added sugar trump fiber???
yes
yes to both???0 -
beemerphile1 wrote: »Ignore it. If you are getting your sugars from fruits and vegetable, you are eating far healthier than the average person.
I agree. And if you're eating the full fruit, the fiber neutralizes the bad effects of the sugar anyway.
lol wut??????
so if I have met my fiber for the day and eat added sugar does it work that way too? or does evils added sugar trump fiber???
yes
yes to both???
at least one guaranteed0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »I disagree that it's hard to get in your veggies and fruits on 1200.
I didn't say it was hard to get in your veggies and fruits. I said one can easily go over 45 grams of sugar with even on a day on which you eat 1-2 pieces of fruit and no dairy or 1 piece of fruit, one serving of plain greek yogurt, so long as you eat a pretty good amount of veggies (as is recommended). This is based on simply looking at the amount of sugar I regularly get from veggies.
you don't seem to challenge 45g very often ? at least the last few days of diary.
I've had lunch out, so fewer veggies than I like or hard to log (so I just estimated calories). Based on my other meals it easily could have been over 45 without eating much fruit or dairy, mostly veggies.
A good example is most of Jan, when I was generally not eating added sugar and rarely ate more than 1-2 pieces of fruit a day, but was over a lot, sometimes substantially (like the day I ate plantains as my starch).If 15% of calories makes sense on maintenance (EU / Aus I think target 18%) then there could be an argument for less when restricting calories, as the protein and fats are more important, but the 15% seems to be derived from a logical approach. Seems weird everyone rushes to turn it off.
I think it doesn't make a lot of sense if someone is on restricted calories, and I've yet to hear a reason why anyone should worry about keeping fruit and veggies low--usually (and consistent with US dietary advice) people should increase their consumption of those. Sure, veggies more than fruit, but fruit is not a problem if someone is within calories (and for most isn't the first thing that should be cut even then), and I see 0 justification for getting people neurotic about watching their sugar in fruits and veggies and dairy (or anything really--it's not difficult to know if you are eating too much in the way of sweets).WHO's 5 a day of vegetables (and fruit) is 400 grams, at 11% sugar average that sneaks in under 45g. Plenty of low sugar veg are below half that.
I often eat more than that (and don't count servings--I just generally aim at more like 200-300 grams per meal, although I don't always make it--lunch is my hardest as I can be bad about prepping--and sometimes compensate at other means, although I try to include greens which have less sugar). I also eat 1-2 pieces of fruit (usually more like 1 in the winter, but I think eating more than I do can be good), and often a serving of plain yogurt. And yeah, even so I'm usually under or around 45, and I have a limit well above 45, since I am not doing 1200. But lots of people do do 1200, and telling them they need to worry about cutting fruit or eating only low sugar fruits (a banana is BAD, nature's cupcake, as some poster said not long ago) or, jeez, low sugar veggies (avoid those carrots and beets, oh, my) seems really unhelpful. Indeed, when I was doing low calories (1250) I tended to cut starchy carbs (which don't have much sugar) and eat veggies and some fruit and dairy in their place. I see zero reason why I should prefer pasta or oats or white potatoes (although those are all lovely foods) over fruit or carrots or beets, just because they have less sugar. It's just a "guideline" here that doesn't seem particularly helpful or well supported or really even help people understand whether they are eating a nutrient-rich diet.0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »I think it doesn't make a lot of sense if someone is on restricted calories, and I've yet to hear a reason why anyone should worry about keeping fruit and veggies low--usually (and consistent with US dietary advice) people should increase their consumption of those.
US dietary advice is aimed at a population with a median consumption pattern where fruit is eaten once a day and vegetables 1.6 times on average. These aren't levels that would challenge even MFP's old sugar goal. So people bumping into the limit are well up the % consumption scale.
If cutting calories out then starch and sugars would be logical targets, 125 grams of those leaving fats and protein alone for example for a 500 calorie deficit. If that comes from candy bars or soft drinks then all is well and good. I wouldn't advocate starch as preferable to sugar either, but there are those that do. Much depends on the diet you're starting from.
100g of sugar on 1200 calories is 33% cals from sugar, I see nobody advocating that.
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Thank you all for your amazingly detailed replies. I think most of you must be scientists! I think I will take the sugar recommendation with a pinch of salt - or will that put my sodium level up
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lemurcat12 wrote: »I think it doesn't make a lot of sense if someone is on restricted calories, and I've yet to hear a reason why anyone should worry about keeping fruit and veggies low--usually (and consistent with US dietary advice) people should increase their consumption of those.
US dietary advice is aimed at a population with a median consumption pattern where fruit is eaten once a day and vegetables 1.6 times on average. These aren't levels that would challenge even MFP's old sugar goal. So people bumping into the limit are well up the % consumption scale.
Right, but when they give advice for total fruit they recommend that people eating an average of 1-2 a day increase. There's no claim that eating more than 2 a day is bad, quite the opposite.
Again, as I pointed out, even eating not especially high amounts of dairy and milk (1-2 servings a day), you can easily hit the 45 grams limit for people on 1200 calories if you are someone who also eats lots of vegetables--even without taking into account moderate amounts of sweets or dried fruits or the like. Does this mean people should worry about it and cut out fruits, veggies, and dairy or focus on choosing only "low sugar" fruits and veggies? Or does it mean that 15% of ALL sugars (which is not supported by any actual nutrition or health reasons I've ever seen--if you have one other than just being kind of anti carb, let me know) can be unreasonably low for someone on low/very reduced calories and isn't the best way to monitor if your diet is overall nutritious and balanced.100g of sugar on 1200 calories is 33% cals from sugar, I see nobody advocating that.
Nor have I, of course, so I don't see the relevance. What I do recommend is focusing on overall diet and not pretending like the sugar limits recommended by WHO et al are because eating some hard amount of sugar has been deemed to be bad for you (let alone some number like 15% of calories no matter what the total calories are). The WHO limit that is low (5% or 10% depending) focuses on calories and nutrition, not some alleged toxic affect of sugar, and pretty much everyone in these discussions agrees that people are eating in excess if they aren't getting adequate amounts of nutrients, protein, fiber, fat, etc. It's just that being above or below 45 (or the like) doesn't tell you much about that question--there are better proxies for most people.
Also, while I tend not to eat huge amounts of fruit and one can obviously eat too much, I think the likelihood that people are overconsuming fruit on average is pretty slim and if anything a transition as they get used to cutting down on sweets. I (again) see zero reason to tell people they must worry about how much fruit they eat (beyond saying, of course, that they should eat their veggies, adequate protein, enough fat, and stay within their calories).0
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