How much / if any 'free' sugars are OK to consume on a daily basis?

jordanblakejpgr

Hi -

As a 23 year old - over the last 6 months I have been refining my diet as it was not great and I consumed allot of heavily processed junk food, 2 or 3 pizzas a week + microwave burgers, regular takeaways.

Just looking for some thoughts on Sugars as this is the area I am unsure about - mainly free sugars e.g. ones found in Ice Cream, cakes, sauces etc...

I rarely eat foods with a moderate amount of sugar let alone a high amount and never really drink anything like Coke.

During a typical week I probably average no more than 10g of Sugar a day (including fruit sugars). I eat allot of nuts, veg, pulses as a good source of nutrients and minerals.

Again prior to six months ago I had one or two McDonalds mcflurrys or Ice Cream cones a week but just feel that I should avoid these?

How many free sugars are safe to eat on a daily basis thus becoming part of my 'diet'. Is an ice cream a week, or some cake bad? I have never been too sure on Sugar!

TavistockToad

I don't track sugar... swapped it for fibre

ccrdragon

Unless you have a medical reason to control sugar (like diabetes), there really is no reason to avoid sugar in all it's many forms. Sugar is not the devil that most of the current internet debates would have you believe that it is.

Need2Exerc1se

There is no easy and single answer for that. It depends on so many things. The average healthy active person of your age could eat quite a bit and still be healthy. But even then, "quite a bit" is going to vary.

Old_Cat_Lady

I never watch sugar from foods like bananas, apples, milk, cheese, etc. I watch added sugars from time to time and try to keep them under 25 grams / day. It has taught me that some of these granola bars are candy bars in disguise, so it was well worth watching for a while.

kommodevaran

It's not so much about eating too much sugar, but eating too many calories and not getting enough nutrition. Are you eating a varied and balanced diet? Are you normal weight? Will increasing "free sugars" make a change to that?

SolotoCEO

Sugar is sneaky. I'm guessing if you tracked it, you are eating much more than 10 g of sugar a day. I try to keep mine under 35 g and that's tough - and allows almost NO fruit.

jordanblakejpgr

kommodevaran wrote: »

It's not so much about eating too much sugar, but eating too many calories and not getting enough nutrition. Are you eating a varied and balanced diet? Are you normal weight? Will increasing "free sugars" make a change to that?

For my age / height my weight is ideal 70kg and 6ft. Diet I would say is varied, I eat allot of good quality fats, fibre and proteins and try to keep the foods with a high Glycemic index to a minimum.

It's just sugar that I need to try and get right as I would like to treat myself every week with something sweet but never quite understood why some people say ' it is the single worst ingredient in the modern day diet ' and others that say it's fine providing it doesn't make up too much of your total calorie intake daily??

Yet again, no one seems to know much about anything regarding what is right and wrong - the news are always claiming one thing is terrible and then a month later it can be amazing for you.

cwolfman13

jordanblakejpgr wrote: »

kommodevaran wrote: »

It's not so much about eating too much sugar, but eating too many calories and not getting enough nutrition. Are you eating a varied and balanced diet? Are you normal weight? Will increasing "free sugars" make a change to that?

For my age / height my weight is ideal 70kg and 6ft. Diet I would say is varied, I eat allot of good quality fats, fibre and proteins and try to keep the foods with a high Glycemic index to a minimum.

It's just sugar that I need to try and get right as I would like to treat myself every week with something sweet but never quite understood why some people say ' it is the single worst ingredient in the modern day diet ' and others that say it's fine providing it doesn't make up too much of your total calorie intake daily??

Yet again, no one seems to know much about anything regarding what is right and wrong - the news are always claiming one thing is terrible and then a month later it can be amazing for you.

People say it's the worst thing in the standard American diet because people eat a crap ton of it...a lot of processed foods contain a lot of sugar and people who eat the SAD typically eat a lot of highly processed foods...people drink big gulp fountain drinks and multiple doughnuts for breakfast and a lot of cake and cookies, etc...

Having something sweet now and then is not a big deal in the context of your diet as a whole...drinking 6 Mountain Dews per day like I used to is. I have something sweet for desert most every night...The people who say it's fine as long as it isn't a substantial part of your everyday diet are correct.

jordanblakejpgr

cwolfman13 wrote: »

jordanblakejpgr wrote: »

kommodevaran wrote: »

It's not so much about eating too much sugar, but eating too many calories and not getting enough nutrition. Are you eating a varied and balanced diet? Are you normal weight? Will increasing "free sugars" make a change to that?

For my age / height my weight is ideal 70kg and 6ft. Diet I would say is varied, I eat allot of good quality fats, fibre and proteins and try to keep the foods with a high Glycemic index to a minimum.

It's just sugar that I need to try and get right as I would like to treat myself every week with something sweet but never quite understood why some people say ' it is the single worst ingredient in the modern day diet ' and others that say it's fine providing it doesn't make up too much of your total calorie intake daily??

Yet again, no one seems to know much about anything regarding what is right and wrong - the news are always claiming one thing is terrible and then a month later it can be amazing for you.

People say it's the worst thing in the standard American diet because people eat a crap ton of it...a lot of processed foods contain a lot of sugar and people who eat the SAD typically eat a lot of highly processed foods...people drink big gulp fountain drinks and multiple doughnuts for breakfast and a lot of cake and cookies, etc...

Having something sweet now and then is not a big deal in the context of your diet as a whole...drinking 6 Mountain Dews per day like I used to is. I have something sweet for desert most every night...The people who say it's fine as long as it isn't a substantial part of your everyday diet are correct.

It's nice to get thoughts on this from regular people - not just what you read on websites and hear on the news. Here in the UK the NHS recommend no more than 30 grams of free sugars a day, providing you eat a balanced diet of course which I guess is the key. You also see people here consume so many sugary drinks.

A bottle of Pepsi 500ml has 56 grams of sugar in it. Shocking.

Old_Cat_Lady

Some people call it Added Sugars instead of Free Sugars. In case you see more sugar questions.

kommodevaran

jordanblakejpgr wrote: »

kommodevaran wrote: »

It's not so much about eating too much sugar, but eating too many calories and not getting enough nutrition. Are you eating a varied and balanced diet? Are you normal weight? Will increasing "free sugars" make a change to that?

For my age / height my weight is ideal 70kg and 6ft. Diet I would say is varied, I eat allot of good quality fats, fibre and proteins and try to keep the foods with a high Glycemic index to a minimum.

It's just sugar that I need to try and get right as I would like to treat myself every week with something sweet but never quite understood why some people say ' it is the single worst ingredient in the modern day diet ' and others that say it's fine providing it doesn't make up too much of your total calorie intake daily??

Yet again, no one seems to know much about anything regarding what is right and wrong - the news are always claiming one thing is terrible and then a month later it can be amazing for you.

Whenever you're in doubt about the validity of a claim, ask yourself *who* is making the claim, and why? Fearmongering sells books, diets, pills. People who are scared, are willing to pay a lot of money to feel safe and to be told exactly what to do.

The news is full of fearmongering. Some of the news are genuine, but it's usually taken out of context and blown out of proportion. "Eating too much sugar makes us fat", but how much IS "too much sugar"? Then it turns out that it's the CALORIES that are too many; sugar is pure carbs, but we are really just eating too much, period.

We have sufficient knowledge about nutrition for it to be useful. You can be sure that a little bit from every food group - some fruit, vegs, dairy unless you're allergic, whole grains, moderate amounts of meat and eggs, some fish, butter and oils, nuts and seeds - is healthy. You can also be sure that a few treats in an overall healthy diet, is not going to hurt you.

What you should be careful about, is letting your good intentions get in the way of your enjoyment of food and interfere with your life. There is no such thing as "the right diet", and focus on single nutrients is not good. You need them all, and a good mix will lower any risk of getting too much of one or a few. In fact, focusing on nutrients, and relying on experts to tell us what to eat, instead of embracing good food - obsession with food and no time to eat; fear of food and overeating to numb feelings - is symptomatic of the modern, western relationship with food, what Michael Pollan calls "nutritionism". Beware of nutritionism.