Too much sugar... how harmful?

Jules190179

How harmful is it if you go over on your MFP sugar limit? My limit is 32g and I have gone over by 23g! I have done my exercise for the day (380 cal burn walking 5mph for 40 mins), but it only knocks off calories. How do I get rid of the excess sugar before it gets stored as fat and am I panicking over nothing?? I don't usually go over. :frown:

scottaworley

If you are eating at a deficit nothing gets stored as fat. You can basically disregard sodium, cholesterol, and sugar values if you do not have medical problems.

mrmagee3

How harmful is it if you go over on your MFP sugar limit? My limit is 32g and I have gone over by 23g! I have done my exercise for the day (380 cal burn walking 5mph for 40 mins), but it only knocks off calories. How do I get rid of the excess sugar before it gets stored as fat and am I panicking over nothing?? I don't usually go over. :frown:

Without getting into the "is sugar bad" argument, let's assume that sugar is the absolute most harmful thing for you, weight-wise, and that every bit of excess sugar you store gets stored directly as body fat.

Going over 23g of sugar is a net overage of 92 calories. If a pound is equal to 3500 calories (which is the classic conversion, if not completely correct), you would have gained somewhere along the lines of .32 ounces, or 2/100ths of a pound.

I wouldn't worry about it.

talraviv69

For me it is next to impossible to meet the sugar goal set by MFP and I tend to believe that it is too conservative. As long as the sugar in my diet originated from sources such as fruits and vegetables and my total carbs is ok, I am satisfied. I am only trying to avoid consumption of products with artificially added sugar.

xWendyJonesx

Im always over on my sugar, its due to the fruit I eat so Im not worried about it, Im not going to stop eating my fruit.

Ryk125

Taken alongside your protein, quick carbs can actually be helpful, as they cause a temporary insulin spike, which enables your body to make better use of the protein. This applies to the other macronutrient too, unfortunately, so sugar + fat is not so great. Hence ice cream being fattening...

The previous posters are quite right, though: in the great scheme of things, 23g of fast carbs such as fruit sugar over your MFP guidelines won't break the bank. :flowerforyou:

Sunshine_Kubes

Agreed with everyone so far. Going over your sugar wouldn't affect your weight loss.. Especially if most of the sugar you're consuming is from fruits. HOWEVER, Sugar is bad for you. The way it affects your body. Google it, and read for yourself

tinethebean2

I always go over on my sugar everyday but not found it a problem I just aim to stay within my calories and that seems to work for me so I wouldn't worry to much

tricksee

Unless you have a medical reason, there is absolutely no need to track your sugar intake. There is even less reason for active individuals.

elliej

The GDA for 2000 cals a day is 90g of sugar so MFP sets sugar quite low ratio wise. I customised my settings and don't sweat it when I go over as long as the vast majority of that is natural sugars.

I disagree with above poster about 'ignoring' sodium though because MFP has set that way too high IMO. Most lit I read recommends never going over 2400mg on a 2000 cal/day diet (between 1500-2400 is 'healthy') whereas MFP sets to 2500 and I see people going over all the time.

TheVimFuego

Taken alongside your protein, quick carbs can actually be helpful, as they cause a temporary insulin spike, which enables your body to make better use of the protein. This applies to the other macronutrient too, unfortunately, so sugar + fat is not so great. Hence ice cream being fattening...

The previous posters are quite right, though: in the great scheme of things, 23g of fast carbs such as fruit sugar over your MFP guidelines won't break the bank. :flowerforyou:

If you are in a deficit then nothing is fattening, ice cream included.

To the OP, don't worry about it.

Just reminded me though, must have my daily ice cream now, ta.

scottaworley

The GDA for 2000 cals a day is 90g of sugar so MFP sets sugar quite low ratio wise. I customised my settings and don't sweat it when I go over as long as the vast majority of that is natural sugars.

I disagree with above poster about 'ignoring' sodium though because MFP has set that way too high IMO. Most lit I read recommends never going over 2400mg on a 2000 cal/day diet (between 1500-2400 is 'healthy') whereas MFP sets to 2500 and I see people going over all the time.

What reasons would there be for tracking sodium in a healthy individual?

tigersword

Ice cream fattening lol. I eat 3-5 pints a week, guess my weight loss is a mirage.

Sugar is a carb. You already track carbs. There is absolutely no good reason to track it twice. Stick to your calorie, carb, protein, and fat limits. The rest are pretty irrelevant, unless you have specific medical conditions.

ssm_1972

How harmful is it if you go over on your MFP sugar limit? My limit is 32g and I have gone over by 23g! I have done my exercise for the day (380 cal burn walking 5mph for 40 mins), but it only knocks off calories. How do I get rid of the excess sugar before it gets stored as fat and am I panicking over nothing?? I don't usually go over. :frown:

Quite a few thing is not clear from your question and/or you had not given few inputs. If you are diabetic or falling under pre-diabetic condition you should talk with your doc about eating sugar as well as it is not clear if you are taking direct or added sugar OR not. Vegetables & Fruits (fructose) have sugar content too though its vary from fruit to fruit. If your health permit you should not bothered much about taking indirect sugar from veg, fruits etc. Else take your doc's advice and try to remain nearer to MFP limit and try to avoid taking direct/added sugar now & then.

elliej

scottaworley - it's not that I think healthy people 'need' to track it but I've seen a lot of people on here whinge about not losing weight or being bloated when they have high sodium diets (say- more than 2000mg daily), and many of the responses talk about water weight.

I didn't say you were wrong I was just saying MFP's pre-sets are low for sugar and high for sodium compared to all 'normal eating' GDAs I've come across. Do you not think it bizarre that MFP has sodium set at a level higher than recommended?

scottaworley

scottaworley - it's not that I think healthy people 'need' to track it but I've seen a lot of people on here whinge about not losing weight or being bloated when they have high sodium diets (say- more than 2000mg daily), and many of the responses talk about water weight.

I didn't say you were wrong I was just saying MFP's pre-sets are low for sugar and high for sodium compared to all 'normal eating' GDAs I've come across. Do you not think it bizarre that MFP has sodium set at a level higher than recommended?

No, because MFP is based out of the US. I'm not sure exactly, but I think that it's pretty close to the American RDA.
Sure - if you're concerned about water weight than track sodium. Everyone who is on a diet, however, should arm themselves with knowledge. The first piece of knowledge that many people pick up is sodium causes water retention. This doesn't mean cut it out or restrict it, just keep it in mind.

CyberEd312

I have never tracked a single gram of sugar through 312 lbs. of weight loss....... I do not track sodium as well... I watch my caloric intake and my Macros (Carbs, Proteins, and Fats). Best of Luck.....

mrmagee3

The GDA for 2000 cals a day is 90g of sugar so MFP sets sugar quite low ratio wise. I customised my settings and don't sweat it when I go over as long as the vast majority of that is natural sugars.

I disagree with above poster about 'ignoring' sodium though because MFP has set that way too high IMO. Most lit I read recommends never going over 2400mg on a 2000 cal/day diet (between 1500-2400 is 'healthy') whereas MFP sets to 2500 and I see people going over all the time.

What reasons would there be for tracking sodium in a healthy individual?

The obvious one is "to ensure that you're getting it", given that it's an essential nutrient.

scottaworley

The GDA for 2000 cals a day is 90g of sugar so MFP sets sugar quite low ratio wise. I customised my settings and don't sweat it when I go over as long as the vast majority of that is natural sugars.

I disagree with above poster about 'ignoring' sodium though because MFP has set that way too high IMO. Most lit I read recommends never going over 2400mg on a 2000 cal/day diet (between 1500-2400 is 'healthy') whereas MFP sets to 2500 and I see people going over all the time.

What reasons would there be for tracking sodium in a healthy individual?

The obvious one is "to ensure that you're getting it", given that it's an essential nutrient.

I honestly don't know anyone in today's world that is sodium deficient.
If you are then you aren't a healthy individual.

mrmagee3

The GDA for 2000 cals a day is 90g of sugar so MFP sets sugar quite low ratio wise. I customised my settings and don't sweat it when I go over as long as the vast majority of that is natural sugars.

I disagree with above poster about 'ignoring' sodium though because MFP has set that way too high IMO. Most lit I read recommends never going over 2400mg on a 2000 cal/day diet (between 1500-2400 is 'healthy') whereas MFP sets to 2500 and I see people going over all the time.

What reasons would there be for tracking sodium in a healthy individual?

The obvious one is "to ensure that you're getting it", given that it's an essential nutrient.

I honestly don't know anyone in today's world that is sodium deficient.
If you are then you aren't a healthy individual.

That's a fallacy. You're not unhealthy until after you stop taking in sodium, hence the need to make sure you get it.

As for not knowing people who are sodium deficient or not, the cry over sodium as a cause of high blood pressure/heart disease has caused a lot of people to eat low-sodium everything. As evidenced by this thread, people are still afraid of eating "too much" sodium. The conversation should shift from "you should lower sodium" to "make sure you're eating at least the sodium you need, otherwise don't worry about it".

We get tons of "am I eating too much sodium!?" threads because MFP sets an upper bound on intake -- one that is completely unnecessary. However, given that sodium itself is necessary, it should still be considered in terms of designing a health diet -- but from the lower bound, not the higher one.

scottaworley

The GDA for 2000 cals a day is 90g of sugar so MFP sets sugar quite low ratio wise. I customised my settings and don't sweat it when I go over as long as the vast majority of that is natural sugars.

I disagree with above poster about 'ignoring' sodium though because MFP has set that way too high IMO. Most lit I read recommends never going over 2400mg on a 2000 cal/day diet (between 1500-2400 is 'healthy') whereas MFP sets to 2500 and I see people going over all the time.

What reasons would there be for tracking sodium in a healthy individual?

The obvious one is "to ensure that you're getting it", given that it's an essential nutrient.

I honestly don't know anyone in today's world that is sodium deficient.
If you are then you aren't a healthy individual.

That's a fallacy. You're not unhealthy until after you stop taking in sodium, hence the need to make sure you get it.

As for not knowing people who are sodium deficient or not, the cry over sodium as a cause of high blood pressure/heart disease has caused a lot of people to eat low-sodium everything. As evidenced by this thread, people are still afraid of eating "too much" sodium. The conversation should shift from "you should lower sodium" to "make sure you're eating at least the sodium you need, otherwise don't worry about it".

We get tons of "am I eating too much sodium!?" threads because MFP sets an upper bound on intake -- one that is completely unnecessary. However, given that sodium itself is necessary, it should still be considered in terms of designing a health diet -- but from the lower bound, not the higher one.

Valid. I will change my statement to "You don't need to track sodium or eat low sodium anything. Check it every once in awhile to make sure you're getting enough."