Sugar
wendyannewatson
Posts: 1 Member
Wanting to know how much sugar I should limit myself to in a day? I am a 53 year old female.
I am only getting sugar from fruits and vege's as well as 1 x 80 calorie yoghurt with 7g of sugar each day.
Should I cut back on fruit to reduce my sugar intake? On average I am consuming 40-50g per day. Is this too much?
I am only getting sugar from fruits and vege's as well as 1 x 80 calorie yoghurt with 7g of sugar each day.
Should I cut back on fruit to reduce my sugar intake? On average I am consuming 40-50g per day. Is this too much?
8
Replies
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If I were the sugar in fruit, vegetables, and yogurt, I'd be major side eyeing you right now.
Do you have a medical reason for wanting to limit it?11 -
The general recommendation for women is 100 calories per day of ADDED sugar - not fruits and dairy.
That's about 25g or four teaspoons.
Fruit, vegetables and dairy don't count in that.5 -
my doctor has me on 36g/day because i'm diabetic. but if there is no medical reason, i don't think there is a reason to limit it.3
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If you're meeting your nutritional goals and you have no medical conditions that require reducing sugar, there's no need to consciously track it. Just continue eating mostly fruits and vegetables with an occasional treat.5
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Too much added sugar can be a negative thing because it tends to either take up budgeted calories with non-nutrient-dense foods, leading to under-nutrition; or tends to lead to excess calories when getting adequate nutrition.
Personally, I find it more helpful to focus on what I want to have in my diet, not what to take out of it. So, I think about my personal nutritional goals for a specific daily minimum of protein, ditto for fats (preferring polyunsaturated/monounsaturated fat sources like olive oil, nuts, seeds, avocados, etc.), and a bare minimum of 5 servings of veg fruit (and more ideally 10+ servings). (I don't even explicitly pay attention to my carb level; it falls where it falls.)
While losing around 50 pounds back in 2015 (at age 59-60), I found I was going over the MFP default sugar goal every single day, when the only added sugar I ate most days was a tiny bit of concentrated fruit juice well down the ingredient list in a single daily 30-calorie tablespoon of all-fruit spread. The rest of the sugar came from inherent sugars in no-sugar-added dairy foods, fruits and veggies.
My solution? I changed my MFP diary page to stop tracking sugar, and track fiber instead. This continues to work well, now into year 3 of maintaining a healthy weight.
People who have a medical need to limit sugar (or more commonly carbs) may find it helpful to track sugar. So might people who are trying to gradually remodel a way of eating that has large amounts of added sugar either hindering nutrition or causing weight gain. There are also some people who find that sugar (or carbs) spike their appetite or cravings, so they want to limit sugar for that reason. Beyond those kinds of cases, I personally don't think tracking sugar has much value.17 -
wendyannewatson wrote: »Wanting to know how much sugar I should limit myself to in a day? I am a 53 year old female.
I am only getting sugar from fruits and vege's as well as 1 x 80 calorie yoghurt with 7g of sugar each day.
Should I cut back on fruit to reduce my sugar intake? On average I am consuming 40-50g per day. Is this too much?
When I was in Costa Rico for 6 weeks I dropped a size without even trying while eating tropical fruit all day long plus rice and beans, so, tons of carbs and lots of sugar.
The WHO's recommendation to limit sugar is for ADDED sugar, not the intrinsic sugar you are consuming.
https://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2015/sugar-guideline/en/
...The WHO guideline 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.4 -
As long as you do not have a medical reason to limit it, and are able to control your calories while consuming it, there is no reason you need to limit sugars. This includes even the *evil* added sugars, provided you get proper nutrition as well.8
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I personally don't consume much in the way of added sugars...most of my sugar is from veg and some fruit with a smattering of added sugars here and there from things like condiments or my yogurt, etc. I don't worry about it...If I was eating a ton of sweets and/or drinking multiple full sugar sodas and whatnot I'd probably try to correct that, but those types of things make up a pretty negligible part of my diet on the whole.2
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As soon as I realized I could replace that column with fiber I did and I have never looked at sugar again. I am not even remotely curious how much I consume.11
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As soon as I realized I could replace that column with fiber I did and I have never looked at sugar again. I am not even remotely curious how much I consume.
Me either but I also know I consume way more than most people here.
It always cracks me up, tho (not in a bad way), when someone basically says, "Don't like the numbers? Track something else!" 2 -
As soon as I realized I could replace that column with fiber I did and I have never looked at sugar again. I am not even remotely curious how much I consume.
Me either but I also know I consume way more than most people here.
It always cracks me up, tho (not in a bad way), when someone basically says, "Don't like the numbers? Track something else!"
2 -
As soon as I realized I could replace that column with fiber I did and I have never looked at sugar again. I am not even remotely curious how much I consume.
Me either but I also know I consume way more than most people here.
It always cracks me up, tho (not in a bad way), when someone basically says, "Don't like the numbers? Track something else!"
But it is being tracked, under Carbs.
2 -
RelCanonical wrote: »As soon as I realized I could replace that column with fiber I did and I have never looked at sugar again. I am not even remotely curious how much I consume.
Me either but I also know I consume way more than most people here.
It always cracks me up, tho (not in a bad way), when someone basically says, "Don't like the numbers? Track something else!"
That tuft of chin hair has *got* to go.0 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »As soon as I realized I could replace that column with fiber I did and I have never looked at sugar again. I am not even remotely curious how much I consume.
Me either but I also know I consume way more than most people here.
It always cracks me up, tho (not in a bad way), when someone basically says, "Don't like the numbers? Track something else!"
But it is being tracked, under Carbs.
So....many...carbs...
Are yummy. 1 -
RelCanonical wrote: »As soon as I realized I could replace that column with fiber I did and I have never looked at sugar again. I am not even remotely curious how much I consume.
Me either but I also know I consume way more than most people here.
It always cracks me up, tho (not in a bad way), when someone basically says, "Don't like the numbers? Track something else!"
That tuft of chin hair has *got* to go.
Don't talk to the 90's like that
OP, most recommendations are for limiting added sugar, and often the reason cited is because it tends to increase calories. I personally found it easier to focus on getting enough protein, fat, and fiber and to strive to increase my veggie servings. When I did that while controlling calories, it naturally pushed out any excess sugar. I still honestly exceed my MFP sugar goal on occasion, sometimes from fruit and sometimes from birthday cake, but I don't sweat it.4 -
RelCanonical wrote: »As soon as I realized I could replace that column with fiber I did and I have never looked at sugar again. I am not even remotely curious how much I consume.
Me either but I also know I consume way more than most people here.
It always cracks me up, tho (not in a bad way), when someone basically says, "Don't like the numbers? Track something else!"
That tuft of chin hair has *got* to go.
But then how are you supposed to know that he's an EVIL TRAITOR?2 -
spoiler alert!1
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As soon as I realized I could replace that column with fiber I did and I have never looked at sugar again. I am not even remotely curious how much I consume.
Me either but I also know I consume way more than most people here.
It always cracks me up, tho (not in a bad way), when someone basically says, "Don't like the numbers? Track something else!"
Do you get up on your roof every morning and count the number of new twigs that have fallen off trees and landed there? Make a note of it? Sugar has exactly that much relevance to me**.
It's not about not liking the numbers; it's about the numbers not being useful in some situations.
** That statement wouldn't be true for everyone.5 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »
And same here.2 -
As soon as I realized I could replace that column with fiber I did and I have never looked at sugar again. I am not even remotely curious how much I consume.
Me either but I also know I consume way more than most people here.
It always cracks me up, tho (not in a bad way), when someone basically says, "Don't like the numbers? Track something else!"
Do you get up on your roof every morning and count the number of new twigs that have fallen off trees and landed there? Make a note of it? Sugar has exactly that much relevance to me**.
It's not about not liking the numbers; it's about the numbers not being useful in some situations.
** That statement wouldn't be true for everyone.
LOL I totally get that and agree! Personally, I wouldn't even be tracking carbs but I love to tell people how many I've eaten while still losing weight. 3 -
As soon as I realized I could replace that column with fiber I did and I have never looked at sugar again. I am not even remotely curious how much I consume.
Me either but I also know I consume way more than most people here.
It always cracks me up, tho (not in a bad way), when someone basically says, "Don't like the numbers? Track something else!"
Do you get up on your roof every morning and count the number of new twigs that have fallen off trees and landed there? Make a note of it? Sugar has exactly that much relevance to me**.
It's not about not liking the numbers; it's about the numbers not being useful in some situations.
** That statement wouldn't be true for everyone.
LOL I totally get that and agree! Personally, I wouldn't even be tracking carbs but I love to tell people how many I've eaten while still losing weight.
I love looking at my report and admiring how all over the place carbs are lol. There is almost no relation to total calories.
7 -
As soon as I realized I could replace that column with fiber I did and I have never looked at sugar again. I am not even remotely curious how much I consume.
Me either but I also know I consume way more than most people here.
It always cracks me up, tho (not in a bad way), when someone basically says, "Don't like the numbers? Track something else!"
Do you get up on your roof every morning and count the number of new twigs that have fallen off trees and landed there? Make a note of it? Sugar has exactly that much relevance to me**.
It's not about not liking the numbers; it's about the numbers not being useful in some situations.
** That statement wouldn't be true for everyone.
Of course I don't get up on my roof every morning and count the number of new twigs. I do it from the ground so I can also document their shape and color.
I feel like even if added sugar should be watched by the average person I wouldn't have to watch it. There are days I am sure I don't get any and most days I do it is probably in a bottled sauce.
5 -
As soon as I realized I could replace that column with fiber I did and I have never looked at sugar again. I am not even remotely curious how much I consume.
Me either but I also know I consume way more than most people here.
It always cracks me up, tho (not in a bad way), when someone basically says, "Don't like the numbers? Track something else!"
Do you get up on your roof every morning and count the number of new twigs that have fallen off trees and landed there? Make a note of it? Sugar has exactly that much relevance to me**.
It's not about not liking the numbers; it's about the numbers not being useful in some situations.
** That statement wouldn't be true for everyone.
Of course I don't get up on my roof every morning and count the number of new twigs. I do it from the ground so I can also document their shape and color.
I feel like even if added sugar should be watched by the average person I wouldn't have to watch it. There are days I am sure I don't get any and most days I do it is probably in a bottled sauce.
Yeah, I'd bet the average person who is logging their food, consistently hitting their calorie goal, and not hungry all the time, is not exceeding the recommended added sugar level. IMHO it's one of those things that you only need to watch if you're not watching anything else.7 -
wendyannewatson wrote: »Wanting to know how much sugar I should limit myself to in a day? I am a 53 year old female.
I am only getting sugar from fruits and vege's as well as 1 x 80 calorie yoghurt with 7g of sugar each day.
Should I cut back on fruit to reduce my sugar intake? On average I am consuming 40-50g per day. Is this too much?As soon as I realized I could replace that column with fiber I did and I have never looked at sugar again. I am not even remotely curious how much I consume.
Me either but I also know I consume way more than most people here.
It always cracks me up, tho (not in a bad way), when someone basically says, "Don't like the numbers? Track something else!"
Do you get up on your roof every morning and count the number of new twigs that have fallen off trees and landed there? Make a note of it? Sugar has exactly that much relevance to me**.
It's not about not liking the numbers; it's about the numbers not being useful in some situations.
** That statement wouldn't be true for everyone.
@wendyannewatson the below is from US government website for what it is worth.
"Americans should keep their intake of added sugars to less than 10% of their total daily calories as part of a healthy diet.2 For example, in a 2,000 daily calorie diet no more than 200 calories should come from added sugars."
https://cdc.gov/nutrition/data-statistics/know-your-limit-for-added-sugars.html1 -
It's funny, tracking sugar is something I am always concerned with because both of my parents are diabetic (type II). Years ago I was diagnosed pre-diabetic, but the doctor agreed they *kitten* the test up and when I took it again, it turns out I wasn't. It would be so freeing to just not track my sugars...maybe I'll give it a try.0
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FWIW, Sugar is tracked by default on the Printable version, so it's always there, one click away. You can't edit those columns, so there is no benefit to it being tracked on the FOOD page. For that matter, fiber is also tracked by default. I don't track either of them on the FOOD page any more.0
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It's funny, tracking sugar is something I am always concerned with because both of my parents are diabetic (type II). Years ago I was diagnosed pre-diabetic, but the doctor agreed they *kitten* the test up and when I took it again, it turns out I wasn't. It would be so freeing to just not track my sugars...maybe I'll give it a try.
As a T2Dm I do not track sugars. Why? Total carbs are the important number for me to track since I do not take insulin. Sugars are just another carb and my diabetes is managed well enough that I do not get high glucose events. So many assume that sugars are the only thing that affect T2 diabetes but forget that starches get turned into sugar during digestion so all carbs are important to track. The number of carbs to eat should be discussed with a doctor, each person is different.
Another who replaced the sugar column with fiber. My Dad died of colon cancer so I have long been aware of the need to get enough fiber.9
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