How much sugar?

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cariad71
cariad71 Posts: 8 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I’m confused! If the recommendation for women is ‘eat no more than 6 tsp of sugar a day’ 25g- …why is MFP setting my daily goal at 63g?

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  • frhaberl
    frhaberl Posts: 145 Member
    edited November 2023
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    I believe the differentiation is between sugar (the number MFP is giving you) and ADDED sugar (the number the AHA is setting a recommendation for). It's possible to have 63g of sugar where less than 24g (6 tsp) of that is added if you are eating foods that have natural sugars. Not every food in the MFP database breaks out added vs natural sugars, so you will probably have to do a bit of extra data entry if that is something you want to track.

    I will admit that I'm not focusing on minimizing added sugar at the moment. My focus is more on meeting my fiber and protein goals, and that drives me towards foods that are less likely to have a lot of added sugars - just had some raspberries as a snack, which gave me 11g of fiber that came with 7.5g of sugar (wouldn't consider this added sugar).

    That said, I don't really restrict sugar and am not one to substitute artificial sweetener for added sugar, so I am probably over the recommended amount pretty regularly. BUT, I'm way lower than I used to be and have dropped my A1C into the normal range, so I don't feel a sense of urgency about tackling added sugar at the moment. Maybe that will be a 2024 goal.
  • cariad71
    cariad71 Posts: 8 Member
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    Thank you for that explanation. It makes perfect sense now. I am trying to eat no added sugar (to reduce fasting blood glucose) and low carb ( which is actually not too bad at less than 130g a day). I’m getting all my sweet treats from berries and Greek yogurt at the moment. It’s not exactly a Cadburys caramel but it helps! I’ve also bought all the ingredients ( including artificial sweetener) to make a cheesecake. That should help too- although I’m going to try and find a way of sweetening the mixture other ways too. Good luck with your goal!

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