Sugars - Fruits and Veggies

melissaentwistle3

If one eats a lot of fruits and veggies, should we be worried about the sugar intake? I get confused on this?

cwolfman13

What does your common sense tell you?

rileysowner

Other than if one has a medical condition that requires concern about sugar intake, it shouldn't be a concern at all assuming overall mainly nutritious foods are eaten and calories are kept at a reasonable level. The push against sugar is just a way to decrease calorie consumption that is usually derived from foods that are often not very nutritious. In other words, sugar in itself is not the problem, eating too much is the problem.

lemurcat12

cwolfman13 wrote: »

What does your common sense tell you?

This.

Or to be even more straightfoward, no, I would not worry about sugar intake from vegetables and fruit.

Ready2Rock206

I don't even worry about sugar from a snickers bar. I have no medical reason to track sugar and so I am definitely not going to get concerned about naturally occurring sugars. I track fiber instead - more useful info for me.

dwilliamca

I try to stay under the 45 g listed in my diary, which although not an official number is close to what the government/health standards recommend for a 2000 calorie diet. I eat lots of fruit and vegetables and rarely go over that number. Sugar is the same whether it comes from a piece of fruit, candy bar, or sugar bowl but fruit and vegetables also have vitamins, minerals, and fiber so they are the better choice. Because I am watching my calories I use Stevia, which is plant based, as a substitute and although I'm not big fan of Sucrolose I do eat some sugar-free foods that fit my budget so I can have dessert or sweet drinks when I want them. I do believe that diets high in starch and sugar (mine for 40 or 50 years) lead to insulin resistance and later type II diabetes.....which I now have.

fuzzylop72

I ignore natural sugar in fruits and vegetables, as the WHO does too and instead only consider free sugar, so fruits and vegetables don't typically count (but fruit and vegetable juice does).

glassyo

dwilliamca wrote: »

I try to stay under the 45 g listed in my diary, which although not an official number is close to what the government/health standards recommend for a 2000 calorie diet. I eat lots of fruit and vegetables and rarely go over that number. Sugar is the same whether it comes from a piece of fruit, candy bar, or sugar bowl but fruit and vegetables also have vitamins, minerals, and fiber so they are the better choice. Because I am watching my calories I use Stevia, which is plant based, as a substitute and although I'm not big fan of Sucrolose I do eat some sugar-free foods that fit my budget so I can have dessert or sweet drinks when I want them. I do believe that diets high in starch and sugar (mine for 40 or 50 years) lead to insulin resistance and later type II diabetes.....which I now have.

I thought the sugar causing diabetes thing was debunked because, I gotta tell you, I have never shied away from sugar and probably even eat way more than anyone here would recommend AND my grandmother was diabetic (which is what I learned makes the risk greater) and my blood tests have always come back normal.

Unknown

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lemurcat12

dwilliamca wrote: »

I try to stay under the 45 g listed in my diary, which although not an official number is close to what the government/health standards recommend for a 2000 calorie diet.

What gov't standards? The WHO recommends no more than 10% (ideally 5%) ADDED (or FREE) sugars, which does not include ANY sugars from vegetables and fruits, so not theirs.

The US guidelines are similarly no more than 10% from added sugar, and no limit on fruits and veg (recommended amounts for fruits and veg that most don't meet).

Current push in the UK to eat at least 8-10 servings of fruit and veg (I'd focus more on veg, personally, but some fruit is fine).

Sugar is the same whether it comes from a piece of fruit, candy bar, or sugar bowl but fruit and vegetables also have vitamins, minerals, and fiber so they are the better choice.

Sure, but if you read the reasons for the recommended limits it is to avoid/limit foods that tend to be high in calories and low in nutrients and thus result in exceeding recommended calories and crowd out nutrients. No credibly studies suggest that eating too many vegetables (or too much fruit) is bad for us unless it means you are short on other things you need (like protein, essential fats). There's certainly nothing I've seen suggesting that vegetables and fruits cause T2D.

I think it's really sad that the obsession with sugar is such that people are worried about fruit and even vegetables.

kshama2001

I have no medical reason to be concerned about sugar, and swapped out this and sodium for fiber and iron, which are more useful for me personally.