Sugar from fruit

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Replies

  • VegjoyP
    VegjoyP Posts: 2,771 Member
    edited September 2019
    When I was a runner I ate a ton of bananas. Never a problem, until recently. I have autoimmune disease and chronic skin infections. For ME, any sugar causes a flair and inflammation. For medicial reasons ( Mixed connective tissue disease, SLE Lupus, Arthritis plus osteoporosis) I have gone to low carb.
    For someone who eats healthy and includes fruit, aiming for calorie goals with no medical reasons, I would not wprry or cut put fruit. Remember this app calculates both according to a set standard and does not differentiate sources of sugar.
    I ave switched from bananas to avocado. Its actually made a world of difference.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,133 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    <snip for reply length>
    I mostly wanted to make the point that not caring about intrinsic sugar doesn't mean one also eats unlimited added sugar. My view is that if you eat a good overall diet with reasonable cals, healthy fats, sufficient protein, and lots of veg, some fruit, sufficient fiber, there's no need to worry about added sugar since it will be in check, but sometimes people assume otherwise and make assumptions that if you say "I don't worry about sugar" you must be eating stupid amounts of dessert foods.

    Thank you for underscoring that. Obviously, I agree.

    I think I should've made my main point more explicit, too: I think it's much more useful to worry about getting the right things into my eating, than it is to worry about getting less-useful things out.

    If one looks for the caloric room to add in more elements of good nutrition, it will almost automatically result in cutting the less-nutrient-dense foods that are the least important to the happiness of that particular individual, I think. Happiness is a long-term compliance factor. Just "getting rid of bad foods" can backfire, from the standpoint of balancing any given individual's needs for nutrition with desires for pleasure.

    It's also IMO true that each of us has things we tend to over- or under-eat, that might color which categories we pay closer attention to. Identifying those is also a by-product of diary review and the gradual revamping of eating in a more overall nutritious direction. Fats are one of those for me, and it was a bit of a light-bulb to realize that by default I may under-eat them, as I think it may've been one (of several) factors behind my past IBS-C symptoms. From reading others' posts here, fat seems not to be the most common thing to accidentally under-consume.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    <snip for reply length>
    I mostly wanted to make the point that not caring about intrinsic sugar doesn't mean one also eats unlimited added sugar. My view is that if you eat a good overall diet with reasonable cals, healthy fats, sufficient protein, and lots of veg, some fruit, sufficient fiber, there's no need to worry about added sugar since it will be in check, but sometimes people assume otherwise and make assumptions that if you say "I don't worry about sugar" you must be eating stupid amounts of dessert foods.

    Thank you for underscoring that. Obviously, I agree.

    I think I should've made my main point more explicit, too: I think it's much more useful to worry about getting the right things into my eating, than it is to worry about getting less-useful things out.

    If one looks for the caloric room to add in more elements of good nutrition, it will almost automatically result in cutting the less-nutrient-dense foods that are the least important to the happiness of that particular individual, I think. Happiness is a long-term compliance factor. Just "getting rid of bad foods" can backfire, from the standpoint of balancing any given individual's needs for nutrition with desires for pleasure.

    It's also IMO true that each of us has things we tend to over- or under-eat, that might color which categories we pay closer attention to. Identifying those is also a by-product of diary review and the gradual revamping of eating in a more overall nutritious direction. Fats are one of those for me, and it was a bit of a light-bulb to realize that by default I may under-eat them, as I think it may've been one (of several) factors behind my past IBS-C symptoms. From reading others' posts here, fat seems not to be the most common thing to accidentally under-consume.

    Couldn't agree more.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »

    I think I should've made my main point more explicit, too: I think it's much more useful to worry about getting the right things into my eating, than it is to worry about getting less-useful things out.

    This is how I think about sugar too. As a diabetic I have slightly different goals but the main one is to stay under 150 g of total carbs per day. Whether those carbs come from simple (sugars) or complex (starches) has little effect on my blood glucose overall. Simple carbs will cause a spike and crash while complex carbs will cause a more gentle rise and fall but over a longer period of time. The AVERAGE over the day will be the same.

    This fits into your point in that I have a limited budget for carbs so I need to spend them in a way that gets the most nutrition in, instead of just keeping sugar out. Eating a high sugary treat or drinking juice or a regular soda does not do that so they need to be limited, but not because of the sugar. I eat more veggies and less fruit for the same reason. I look for carbs that have fiber because it is harder to get enough fiber when reducing carbs.

    I don't track sugar because, in the end, it is a meaningless number for me.

  • goodasgoldilox165
    goodasgoldilox165 Posts: 333 Member
    Surprised by the 30 'disagree' on my (not very controversial )comment about too much fruit not being good for teeth.

    (It was just another way of noting the point above about the body not caring where the sweetness comes from.)

    Although it is nutritious, fruit really isn't good for teeth because of its sugar and its acid. It is not a perfect food and not a perfect alternative to 'bad' sugar. Glucose, fructose and sucrose are all sweet to tooth bacteria :)

    Dentists don't ban it but do suggest moderating consumption, drinking juice through a straw to avoid contact with teeth, drinking water after eating fruit and of course, not eating it many times a day.

    Eat it if you like it and it fits into your plan but don't nibble it all day if you love your pearly smile or need to keep your blood-sugar steady.
  • donnadean3337
    donnadean3337 Posts: 1 Member
    This is just the question I was going to ask - glad I searched the forum first!

    My understanding is that sugar from fruit is less bad than refined sugar because your body has to work harder to break down and digest the raw fruit.

    A few responses suggest swapping out the sugar count for fibre - is this done on the app or do people mean to just ignore the sugar total and take more notice of the fibre?

    Thanks
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    donnadean3337 wrote: »
    This is just the question I was going to ask - glad I searched the forum first!

    My understanding is that sugar from fruit is less bad than refined sugar because your body has to work harder to break down and digest the raw fruit.

    A few responses suggest swapping out the sugar count for fibre - is this done on the app or do people mean to just ignore the sugar total and take more notice of the fibre?

    Thanks

    Sugar is sugar. Your body treats all sugars the same. The argument against sugar is that some people can't afford to eat too many sugary foods and on a smaller calorie budget and prefer to eat more nutrient dense foods. It's also why some people prefer fruits as a source of sugar (they have some important nutrients). For dieting purposes, your sugar count doesn't really matter because it's all about calories. If a food fits into your calorie budget it's perfectly okay to eat it, be it fruit or any other food. Mathematically, weight change depends on calories and calories only. Anything else you do with your diet is jut tweaking to make dieting easier.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,133 Member
    donnadean3337 wrote: »
    This is just the question I was going to ask - glad I searched the forum first!

    My understanding is that sugar from fruit is less bad than refined sugar because your body has to work harder to break down and digest the raw fruit.

    A few responses suggest swapping out the sugar count for fibre - is this done on the app or do people mean to just ignore the sugar total and take more notice of the fibre?

    Thanks

    To the bolded: It's done in the app. Even in the free version, you can customize the columns that appear on your diary page.

    To the not-bolded: The sugar in fruit and refined sugar are quite similar in how your body processes them. The difference is in the fiber that comes with the sugar in the fruit, vs. some highly-processed mostly-sugar foods when eaten on their own. The idea is that the fiber will kinda slow down how fast the sugar is metabolized. However, if your highly-processed sugary thing has proteins, fats, and fiber (like, say, a protein granola bar), or is eaten in conjunction with other foods that have them, the difference is pretty moot/trivial.

    Sugar is a problem if (1) an individual must limit it due to a medical issue (such as diabetes), or (2) it's eaten in such excess that it either drives out nutrition at appropriate calories, or causes one to eat excess calories while getting adequate nutrition. Oh, and, if you let it cause dental caries (brush your teeth!). Otherwise, NBD.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    donnadean3337 wrote: »
    This is just the question I was going to ask - glad I searched the forum first!

    My understanding is that sugar from fruit is less bad than refined sugar because your body has to work harder to break down and digest the raw fruit.

    A few responses suggest swapping out the sugar count for fibre - is this done on the app or do people mean to just ignore the sugar total and take more notice of the fibre?

    Thanks

    The sugar in fruit is no different than any other sugar and your body processes it the same. What you are referring to is the effect of the fiber in many fruits. Soluble fiber can help slow the release of glucose into the bloodstream. This is the same no matter if the glucose is the result of sugars or starches. Insoluble fiber does not affect the absorption of nutrients but is important to help eliminate waste.

    Many people do not track sugars as a separate nutrient but lump all carbs together. Getting enough fiber has been shown to be beneficial and even can help prevent some cancers (especially colon cancer) so many track fiber instead.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    earlnabby wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »

    I think I should've made my main point more explicit, too: I think it's much more useful to worry about getting the right things into my eating, than it is to worry about getting less-useful things out.

    This is how I think about sugar too. As a diabetic I have slightly different goals but the main one is to stay under 150 g of total carbs per day. Whether those carbs come from simple (sugars) or complex (starches) has little effect on my blood glucose overall. Simple carbs will cause a spike and crash while complex carbs will cause a more gentle rise and fall but over a longer period of time. The AVERAGE over the day will be the same.

    This fits into your point in that I have a limited budget for carbs so I need to spend them in a way that gets the most nutrition in, instead of just keeping sugar out. Eating a high sugary treat or drinking juice or a regular soda does not do that so they need to be limited, but not because of the sugar. I eat more veggies and less fruit for the same reason. I look for carbs that have fiber because it is harder to get enough fiber when reducing carbs.

    I don't track sugar because, in the end, it is a meaningless number for me.
    While we’re somewhat off the original topic, I wanted to comment on this. While most doctors are primarily focused on a1c, since it’s an easily administered test which gives a estimate of average blood sugar over about ninety days, research has found that a1c has limited correlation to serious side effects of diabetes, while high spikes after meals and fluctuations have a much stronger correlation with serious side effects. If your sugar is repeatedly very high and crashes, resulting in the same average sugar over time as if it stayed within normal ranges, that is NOT the same for your health. It damages nerves and in particular it leads to cardiovascular events, the main cause of death for diabetics.

    However, I still agree that tracking sugar isn’t that important because sugar isn’t the only thing that causes spikes. High starch foods such as tortillas spike the heck out of me, and so does white rice, while oranges, high in sugar but also in fiber, don’t spike me.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    donnadean3337 wrote: »
    This is just the question I was going to ask - glad I searched the forum first!

    My understanding is that sugar from fruit is less bad than refined sugar because your body has to work harder to break down and digest the raw fruit.

    A few responses suggest swapping out the sugar count for fibre - is this done on the app or do people mean to just ignore the sugar total and take more notice of the fibre?

    Thanks

    I do it here: https://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings but that's for desktop; not sure if it would be the same in the app on mobile.

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