DRI for sugar

joann1611
joann1611 Posts: 2 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Why is sugar goal at 45 by default when back in 2014 the USDA lowered the DRI to 25. The goal of 25 grams of sugar is difficult to achieve but it is what it is. Why hasn't MFP changed it?

Replies

  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    25g of added sugar. The 45 G includes natural sugars too
  • cityruss
    cityruss Posts: 2,493 Member
    Where are you finding the 25g of sugar information?

    I can see no mention...

    https://fnic.nal.usda.gov/dietary-guidance/dietary-reference-intakes/dri-nutrient-reports

    https://www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/~/media/Files/Activity Files/Nutrition/DRIs/DRI_Macronutrients.pdf
    Government Recommendations
    The Institute of Medicine sets the recommended dietary allowance, or RDA, for nutrients. Since sugar isn’t a required nutrient in the diet, the institute has not issued an RDA for it. However, it does suggest that no more than 25 percent of calories come from added sugars – or between 38 and 55 percent of all calories from carbohydrates. In the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010, the USDA’s recommendation is more vague, advising that combined calories from solid – that is, saturated or trans – fats and added sugar be limited to 5 to 15 percent of total daily calories. On a 2,000-calorie diet, this would mean limiting yourself to between 100 and 300 calories from these two types of ingredients, but the USDA offers no separate recommendation for sugar.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Current guidelines in the US Dietary Guidelines is that added sugar should be no more than 10% of total calories. (As with the WHO the reason for this has to do with eating lots of added sugar correlating with eating too many calories.) If one is on a 2000 calorie diet, that would be no more than 50 g of added sugar, and at 1200 calories (awfully low for most people) that would be 30 g. The WHO's recommendation is also no more than 10%, although they also suggest that 5% would be even better.

    Anyway, as noted above, all of those are ADDED sugar. The MFP goal is total sugar. I hit 34 g the other day at breakfast just from fruits and veg (I made a smoothie including both and had some extra veg on the side). There's nothing in the WHO recommendation or the US Dietary Guidelines that would suggest that's a problem, unless I went over calories as a result, of course (they suggest that one should eat appropriate calories and stay within a healthy weight range).

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