Sugar in fruit

julieprayer

My dialysis nutritionist said fruit is a carb, not sugar. Why does your app count sugar in fruit then?

Corina1143

Fruit is made up of a combo of carbs, including sugar and fiber. MFP counts the fiber in fruit, too, if the person who created that particular entry included it.

AnnPT77

Sugar is a type of carb. You'd have to ask your nutritionist why s/he said that.

Sometimes dietitians (which is what we call the people with relevant education/credentials/certification here in the US) want us to eat a certain amount of carbs in the form of fruit, veggies, whole grains and/or no-sugar-added dairy foods: Those foods have lots of nutritional value.

Often, though, they want us to limit added sugar, i.e., sugar that's put into a prepared food product in the form of granulated sugar, honey, concentrated fruit juice, corn syrup, maple syrup, and various other sweeteners.

Perhaps your nutritionist was making that distinction: Whole fruit is nutrient dense, has fiber that will typically slow down how the inherent sugars in the fruit are absorbed into our bodies. Added sugars in processed foods are more likely to spike blood sugar suddenly. (Note: I know that blood sugar response to foods varies from one individual to the next. But that's the generality.)

MargaretYakoda

Most people don’t really think about sugar beyond sweets, or carbohydrates beyond bread and spaghetti.

The truth is that carbohydrates are complex sugars.
A very simple form of sugar is glucose. Your body absolutely needs glucose in order to survive. This is a fundamental part of biology.
Glucose powers the brain and muscles. Without it you shut down pretty fast. Fructose, which is commonly found in most fruits, is similar to glucose. Fun fact - glucose, fructose, and galactose (milk sugar) are all C6H12O6, the atoms are just arranged a little differently. Glucose is the only one that makes it to the bloodstream to provide energy to your cells.

Nutritionists often try to simplify the task of choosing foods that their patients can eat in line with their medical needs.
Typically a newly diagnosed diabetic, for example, would be instructed to count carbs. Usually, depending on age, gender, and activity level, between 35 to 45 carbs per meal, with one or two 15 carb snacks in between or at bedtime.
But those carbs are still sugar. The simplest carbs will go into the bloodstream very quickly, which is why glucose tablets or gels are often carried by diabetics. The more complex carbohydrates take longer to digest, but will eventually raise blood sugar levels also.
When the goal is to reduce hunger pangs, it is generally best to eat more complex carbohydrates for a longer time between the feeling of hunger which can accompany lower blood glucose levels.

Whole fruits, as @Corina1143 mentioned, also has fiber, which is usually made of complex carbohydrates, and takes longer to digest, or doesn’t digest at all but provides other benefits to digestion.

The CDC has a good overview of how a typical diabetic might be instructed to count carbs.
https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/managing/eat-well/diabetes-and-carbohydrates.html

I am not a registered dietitian. Always consult your medical team for personalized nutrition advice.

paperpudding

if you are on dialysis you really should be following what your health professionals advise

Is this nutritionist part of your renal team?

neanderthin

First of all, carbs are sugar as far as the body is concerned and fruit naturally have sugars in them and why it's analyzed separately as sugar. Not sure why your dialysis nutritionist either isn't aware of that or just figured they would phrase it that way to keep thing simple, don't know.

tomcustombuilder

LOL @ your "nutritionist".

lynn_glenmont

MargaretYakoda wrote: »

Most people don’t really think about sugar beyond sweets, or carbohydrates beyond bread and spaghetti.

The truth is that carbohydrates are complex sugars.

Carbohydrates include both complex and simple sugars -- perhaps you meant carbohydrates include complex sugars, but the way you phrased it makes it sound like carbohydrates are only complex sugars.

lynn_glenmont

julieprayer wrote: »

My dialysis nutritionist said fruit is a carb, not sugar. Why does your app count sugar in fruit then?

Because the app reflects actual science and what words really mean, not what your nutritionist tells you because they don't trust you to be able to understand the complete, real explanation.

Alatariel75

Sugar is a carb, the way a sweater is an item of clothing.

MargaretYakoda

lynn_glenmont wrote: »

MargaretYakoda wrote: »

Most people don’t really think about sugar beyond sweets, or carbohydrates beyond bread and spaghetti.

The truth is that carbohydrates are complex sugars.

Carbohydrates include both complex and simple sugars -- perhaps you meant carbohydrates include complex sugars, but the way you phrased it makes it sound like carbohydrates are only complex sugars.

The intention of my answer to the OP was to address why the OP’s nutritionist would call fruit a carb. I was trying to hit the big picture without getting too complicated.