Sugar

DorothyM11

OK I'm trying to have healthy snacks like fruit, but I'm exceeding my sugar grams.

JeromeBarry1

Fruits have fructose.
Fructose is sugar.

What is your budget for sugar grams?

lynn_glenmont

Do you have a medical reason to limit sugar?
If not, don't worry about it.

DorothyM11

My budget is 50. I like OJ with breakfast but I don't have it every day, only when hubby cooks!

livingleanlivingclean

DorothyM11 wrote: »

My budget is 50. I like OJ with breakfast but I don't have it every day, only when hubby cooks!

Juice isn't fruit. Well... It is made of fruit, but it has lots of bits missing. Your glass of juice would be the same sugar as eating multiple oranges - would you sit down to eat 5,6,7 oranges in one sitting?

AntsyAngler

I find mixing soda water with a couple tablespoons of fruit juice gives me the juice fix without all the sugar.

snowflake954

Are you within your daily calorie goal? If that's the case, I wouldn't worry too much. If you have a medical reason to reduce sugar, then you'll have to study where you can limit it. Look closely at your food diary and substitute.

kpsyche

I don't really understand the sugar per day recommendation that MFP uses and where it comes from/what it's based on. The WHO recommends that people limit their:

daily intake of free sugars to less than 10% of their total energy intake

Note that that is referring to free sugars that comes from added sugar in drinks and stuff. The WHO further clarifies that

[free sugar] does not refer to the sugars in fresh fruits and vegetables, and sugars naturally present in milk, because there is no reported evidence of adverse effects of consuming these sugars.

I got told to reduce my sugar intake because my blood test showed ridiculously high blood glucose levels (probably from the 8 or 10 cans of soda a day ) so I simply stopped drinking the sugar-filled drinks and no longer add sugar to anything at all. I also now check labels of any processed foods I buy. Within two weeks everything was back to normal in a follow-up blood test.

It's very rare that I'm under MFP's sugar goal that it sets me (I get sugar from fresh fruit, vegetables and milk -- milk is 52% of my sugar/lactose consumption). From everything I've read and from what my doctor told me the natural sugars I am getting are fine so I no longer pay much attention to the MFP goal, although I can't help looking at it all the time hahaha.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2015/sugar-guideline/en/

kpsyche

I should also add that before I gave up my soda addiction my GGT was 250... basically a level that could be expected if I was an alcoholic but that was just from sugar! (My GGT was back down to 70 after two weeks)

netitheyeti

unless you're diabetic (or have other medical reasons to try and limit sugar) I wouldn't worry about it, if it's part of a balanced diet.. I'm almost always over my sugar limit, just through eating fruit and vegetables and my occasional glass of milk

lemurcat12

kpsyche wrote: »

I don't really understand the sugar per day recommendation that MFP uses and where it comes from/what it's based on.

Nowhere important, IMO. I don't think there's a credible source for a need to limit total sugar to 15% of calories, which is what the MFP limit is. In fact, I think the only necessary limit on total sugar is whatever amount allows you to hit your protein and fat goals and fiber goals and have an overall balanced, nutrient-dense diet without exceeding calories. For example, I wouldn't eat fruit (the largest source of intrinsic sugar, probably) to the expense of vegetables or even having a diverse diet that includes some whole food starchy carbs (beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes) or whole grains, or to the point where my diet was unbalanced and low protein or super low fat (or did not include sources of essential fats or omega 3s, especially). But that still means I can eat plenty of fruit and on high fruit days I might be well over my sugar goal (I track at Cron, though, so it's different anyway).

MFP's problem is that it's not currently possible to track added sugar (it's not on most labels), so they make a (lowball, IMO) assumption about how much sugar people are getting from fruit, veg, and dairy (and things like sweet potatoes) and then add on to that to cap at 15%.

My own approach has always been just to look to see if my added sugar seemed out of whack (I tend to think the WHO recommendation is reasonable and try to keep added sugar to below 5% on average, but I am not particularly concerned about it since I know it is usually pretty low, for me, because I don't have tons of extra calories for those kinds of foods when I focus on eating the foods that provide nutrients I want, basically eating a normal balanced diet).

So for OP, no, if your sugar is really mostly from fruit, I wouldn't worry about it, so long as you are hitting reasonable protein goals, getting in some good sources of fat, are hitting your fiber goal, and eating your vegetables. Those are better signs of a diet that will support good health than the total sugar number.

fb47

DorothyM11 wrote: »

OK I'm trying to have healthy snacks like fruit, but I'm exceeding my sugar grams.

Unless your diabetic, sugar isn't the root of all evil like people claim....as long as you hit your carbs macros and not go way over on a daily basis, you will be fine.

DorothyM11

Thanks everyone! My last few blood tests my doc was very happy with my blood sugar levels. I had done a pre diabetes course and lost 30 lbs. Unfortunately my weight has crept up over the holidays so I'm back on a food plan. My blood sugar is fine, just wondered about those red numbers! All of your input is helpful.