For science- a question about sugar in the diet
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jennasbarton
Posts: 23 Member
Hello,
I am looking for some opinions about sugars in the diet for an experiment I am running for my blog about added sugars. I'm not condemning or advocating anything but I wonder how other people who count their macros regularly for either weight loss or maintenance set a level of sugar for the day and why?
I noticed that MFP gives me a recommendation of 45g a day and although I have been avoiding anything with an added sugar component I still go over this from whole foods on an average day. Where is this 45g coming from? American Heart Assoc and the NHS offer guidelines on how much added sugar we should stop at on a daily basis but suggest that sugar from wholefoods doesn't need to be monitored unless one is diabetic. Agree? Disagree? How come? What do you find successful?
Many thanks!
I am looking for some opinions about sugars in the diet for an experiment I am running for my blog about added sugars. I'm not condemning or advocating anything but I wonder how other people who count their macros regularly for either weight loss or maintenance set a level of sugar for the day and why?
I noticed that MFP gives me a recommendation of 45g a day and although I have been avoiding anything with an added sugar component I still go over this from whole foods on an average day. Where is this 45g coming from? American Heart Assoc and the NHS offer guidelines on how much added sugar we should stop at on a daily basis but suggest that sugar from wholefoods doesn't need to be monitored unless one is diabetic. Agree? Disagree? How come? What do you find successful?
Many thanks!
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Replies
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MFP can't distinguish between added and non-added sugars because nutrition labels don't, so the number it gives you is largely useless as you noticed by going over from whole foods.
I don't monitor my sugars at all, but I noticed that just by having a mostly nutritious diet, sugar numbers tend to fall within the guidelines by themselves, as others have noticed too.
The guidelines are mostly meant for people not monitoring their calorie intake, it's easy to overeat on foods high in added sugars as they tend to be high calories and low nutrition and that's not good because it means you either have a harder time getting in the nutrition you need or end up overeating calories, both of which aren't optimal but it's basically a non-issue for anyone monitoring their food intake.10 -
stevencloser wrote: »MFP can't distinguish between added and non-added sugars because nutrition labels don't, so the number it gives you is largely useless as you noticed by going over from whole foods.
I don't monitor my sugars at all, but I noticed that just by having a mostly nutritious diet, sugar numbers tend to fall within the guidelines by themselves, as others have noticed too.
The guidelines are mostly meant for people not monitoring their calorie intake, it's easy to overeat on foods high in added sugars as they tend to be high calories and low nutrition and that's not good because it means you either have a harder time getting in the nutrition you need or end up overeating calories, both of which aren't optimal but it's basically a non-issue for anyone monitoring their food intake.
/thread4 -
I didn't ask about distinguishing added sugars from natural sugars via MFP. I'm asking if anyone knows how the number is set for sugars and if anyone puts much effort into hitting this number and why? When I say where is this 45g coming from I meant how is the number established as a recommendation, not where in my food it is it coming from.1
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jennasbarton wrote: »I didn't ask about distinguishing added sugars from natural sugars via MFP. I'm asking if anyone knows how the number is set for sugars and if anyone puts much effort into hitting this number and why? When I say where is this 45g coming from I meant how is the number established as a recommendation, not where in my food it is it coming from.
It's a somewhat arbitrary number based on the idea that diets higher in sugar will likely also be higher in calories.
There's not some hard and fast rule about how much sugar is optimal for weight loss. It all comes down to calories.2 -
jennasbarton wrote: »I didn't ask about distinguishing added sugars from natural sugars via MFP. I'm asking if anyone knows how the number is set for sugars and if anyone puts much effort into hitting this number and why? When I say where is this 45g coming from I meant how is the number established as a recommendation, not where in my food it is it coming from.
The government?1 -
jennasbarton wrote: »I didn't ask about distinguishing added sugars from natural sugars via MFP. I'm asking if anyone knows how the number is set for sugars and if anyone puts much effort into hitting this number and why? When I say where is this 45g coming from I meant how is the number established as a recommendation, not where in my food it is it coming from.
I think you missed his point. The MFP goal is based off of added sugars. So your goal would be for 45g. I believe that it is based off the WHO's recommendations, but I can't remember exactly. But, if you eat an apple, it goes towards your goal.
So, because the system is broken, many people recommend either not tracking sugars or keeping a separate log if they have some reason to specifically look at sugars.
I removed it from my diary and track fiber instead, which I've found to be more useful.6 -
There's no recommendations for "All sugars" as far as I know. The MFP numbers seem to be pretty arbitrary. Mine says 89 g, regardless how high I put my calories or carbs, even if total carbs is less than that. I just tried.2
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To add, I eat plain yogurt and it shows as 5grams of (lactose) sugar.0
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queenliz99 wrote: »To add, I eat plain yogurt and it shows as 5grams of (lactose) sugar.
But...but...why?? There are blueberries!!5 -
Carlos_421 wrote: »queenliz99 wrote: »To add, I eat plain yogurt and it shows as 5grams of (lactose) sugar.
But...but...why?? There are blueberries!!
I add oreos! FTW!!4 -
queenliz99 wrote: »Carlos_421 wrote: »queenliz99 wrote: »To add, I eat plain yogurt and it shows as 5grams of (lactose) sugar.
But...but...why?? There are blueberries!!
I add oreos! FTW!!
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I don't pay any attention to the sugar limit, whether added to food or not. I just pay attention to getting sufficient protein and fat and let the carbohydrates (of which sugars are a part) fall wherever they will.0
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I don't track the sugars. The carb number is more important to the T2 diabetic (I'm in remission but I still eat like a diabetic).1
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My calorie goal without exercise is 1530, and MFP has my sugar goal at 57g. Yesterday with exercise my calorie goal was 1764 and sugar goal was 65. So looks like 15% I guess? If you want to know why MFP chose that number, you might try contacting MFP support. I don't know of any agreed upon % or gram number from any govt or health agencies. I leave it on my diary for curiosity sake, I don't really try to hit any particular number.0
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Well first off what are you calling a sugar? Are you talking just mono and disaccharides such as glucose or sucrose or are you also including all carbohydrates (which are basically various combinations of sugars).4
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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.
http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/why-the-who-advises-you-to-reduce-sugar-consumption/
So, when WHO is not in all caps, my mind apparently goes straight here:
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