Reporting on Sugar

babymunkey69

Hi there

Just wanted to check in on the sugar reporting in MFP. I am aiming to slowly reduce my sugar intake so would like to understand the sugar reporting - is it total sugars including from carbohydrate, or just "free/added" sugars?

Any help to understand would be great!

H

TeaBea

All sugar listed for your food item, added and naturally occurring.

SueInAz

All sugars are carbohydrates (like all dogs are mammals). MFP allows you to additionally track sugar specifically if it's something you are concerned about. Since nutrition labels do not differentiate between natural sugars or added sugar, sugar tracking in MFP is for all sugar whether it be in fruit, milk or candy. Honestly, your body processes all sugar the same so tracking any of that separately is moot.

babymunkey69

Thanks guys - still to be clear, that would include sugars from carbs yes? So if I only recorded eating vegetables or bread (w/o added sugar) then the sugars from carbs would be included in that number?

What would you suggest would be a good target? I was aiming for around 25g from added sugars which would include any sugars in fruit juices, honey, syrups etc. And exclude those in dairy, veg and whole fruits.

TeaBea

babymunkey69 wrote: »

Thanks guys - still to be clear, that would include sugars from carbs yes? So if I only recorded eating vegetables or bread (w/o added sugar) then the sugars from carbs would be included in that number?

What would you suggest would be a good target? I was aiming for around 25g from added sugars which would include any sugars in fruit juices, honey, syrups etc. And exclude those in dairy, veg and whole fruits.

Sugars are carbs (always).

Lactose is sugar in milk. Fructose is sugar in fruit....sucrose is the added table sugar stuff. All sugars that are listed. Some food items are missing data. For instance I track iron.....sometimes I find no iron....where I know it exists.

lemurcat12

Bread without added sugar wouldn't contain any sugar (as defined by MFP) -- you are asking about starches, and no those won't be included in sugars.

The sugars in vegetables will be included in your sugars, same with fruit and dairy.

SueInAz

First, let's be clear. Sugar is a carbohydrate. Any type of sugar is a carbohydrate. There is no such thing as a sugar which isn't from carbs. Not trying to be rude but trying to make sure you understand that you're making a non-existent distinction. It'd be like saying "that would include golden retrievers that aren't dogs?" when obviously all golden retrievers are dogs.

There isn't a way in MFP for you to track the sugar that is only in juices, honey, syrups, etc. while excluding any in dairy, veg and whole fruits. Sugar is sugar, whatever its source. Your body processes all sugars identically so the USDA doesn't make a distinction and, therefore, the food industry doesn't list them separately on food labels. If tracking specific sugars is something you really want to do, you'll need to figure out a way to track those separately and manually.

babymunkey69

Got it - so really am just looking for an indication of how much "free/added" sugars I'm taking in. Not sure the MFP number will help apart from looking for an overrall reduction....

kshama2001

When I cut back on baked goods and other foods with added sugar, I stopped going over MFP's sugar limit. I do have several servings of fruit, diary, and grains per day.

https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/why-the-who-advises-you-to-reduce-sugar-consumption/

...Registered Dietitian’s Tip: Foods like whole fruit (not fruit juice) and milk naturally contain sugar and these will show up when you log calories. But fruit sugar and milk sugar should not be counted towards the amount of “free” sugar you’re allotted for the day. Whole fruit and milk are full of vitamins and minerals that are important for your body.

Reducing free sugars to less than 10% of our total calories is great, but what does that look like? You can figure this out by following these steps:

Step 1: Take your total calorie goal for the day and multiply by 0.1 (If your goal is less than 5%, then multiply by 0.05); this will give you the maximum calories in your diet that should come from free sugars.
Step 2: Take the calories from free sugar and divide by 4 to give you the maximum grams of free sugars you should be eating.
Step 3: Take the grams of sugar and divide by 4 for the maximum teaspoons of free sugars you should be eating.

MyFitnessPal sets your maximum total sugar limit (which includes added and naturally occurring sugars in fruits, vegetables and dairy) at 15% of total calories, but you can also manually change your goal if you desire. To further help you learn more about added sugars in your diet and how to keep them in check, read:

So You Want to Stop Eating Added Sugar
10 Foods with Hidden Sweet Spots
44 Nicknames for Added Sugar
15 Simple Hacks for Eating Less Sugar
Recipes with “No Added Sugar”

PeachyCarol

OP, to actually address what you've asked, until food labeling changes to add free sugars to nutrition labels, there's really no way to be absolutely sure how much exactly how much sugar in something is naturally occurring and how much is added.

I understand being interested in tracking it (I'm a data nerd myself!), but you can only make a best guess in some foods.

If you are happy with the composition of your overall diet and feel that most of your sugar intake comes from plain dairy, vegetables, and fruit? The rest will take care of itself.

What sources of sugar do you feel you currently consume are of concern to you? Eliminate or scale back on them and you shouldn't have an issue.