Fruit puts me over my sugar limits

Jaerae32 · February 2014

All my days tend to be over on sugar. I love to eat fruit. I eat it in the morning and usually for lunch or a snack. Just eating an apple and some pineapple can put me over my sugar limit. I know eating fruit is good for me, but how can sugar limits be so restrictive as to not even allow two good servings of fruit. Is there a difference in the sugar. Like carbs, is there good sugar and bad sugar. Is sugar in fruit ok? It's not like sugar in candy or cake. Or is it?

4realrose8 · February 2014

It depends on your personal physiology. As someone who is insulin resistant and pre diabetic, my blood sugar can spike with too much fruit and that can lead to sluggishness, fatigue and cravings for more sugar.

I tend to go with lower GI fruit, or eat it with fat and protein, and limit it to small portions.

rockmama72 · February 2014

I consistently go over on sugar, mostly from fruit, so I stopped tracking it

Galatea_Stone · February 2014

Ignore the sugar thingie on MFP.

I'm not going to say there is "good" sugar and "bad" sugar because for the most part, sugar is just sugar. What I will say is that if you can find a source that has added nutrition (fiber, micronutrients, etc.), then that's better. Ditto for carbs. A carb is just a carb. Food is neutral. It shouldn't have a hero-villain distinction.

For example, a pop tart is fortified and you can get nutrients from eating a pop tart. I love pop tarts, and occasionally eat them with great joy. A banana has nutrients and you can get nutrients from eating a banana. I don't particularly love bananas, and I mush them up in chocolate protein shakes if I really must have them. A piece of hard candy doesn't have anything in it other than sugar, but if I've met my nutrition guidelines for the day (or know what I'm going to eat and that I will), then I enjoy the piece of candy.

Getting all worked up over a sugar number is pointless. Get worked up with the overall balance of things instead.

arenad · February 2014

The sugar limit is very low IMO. I finally just started ignoring it. I would usually be at my limit after breakfast.

Julesdublin · February 2014

I deleted sugar from my macros for exactly the same reason. I eat loads of fruits and I am always above my limits.

meganmoo86 · February 2014

I am ALWAYS over on my sugar intake! and it is usually down to fruit / etc so I don't really look at the sugar on MFP. You know yourself if you are eating the right thing and over-doing it sugar wise!

ImpishVanity · February 2014

Ignore the sugar thingie on MFP.

I'm not going to say there is "good" sugar and "bad" sugar because for the most part, sugar is just sugar. What I will say is that if you can find a source that has added nutrition (fiber, micronutrients, etc.), then that's better. Ditto for carbs. A carb is just a carb. Food is neutral. It shouldn't have a hero-villain distinction.

For example, a pop tart is fortified and you can get nutrients from eating a pop tart. I love pop tarts, and occasionally eat them with great joy. A banana has nutrients and you can get nutrients from eating a banana. I don't particularly love bananas, and I mush them up in chocolate protein shakes if I really must have them. A piece of hard candy doesn't have anything in it other than sugar, but if I've met my nutrition guidelines for the day (or know what I'm going to eat and that I will), then I enjoy the piece of candy.

Getting all worked up over a sugar number is pointless. Get worked up with the overall balance of things instead.

So much this!

saratague · February 2014

I just put this on another thread as well:

Because I eat 15 oz of grapes (about 300 calories each) for both a morning AND afternoon snack, I often go over my sugar AND calories for the day.

I try to look at it as quality vs. quantity - Yes...It's still 600 calories from "snacks" but I believe that 600 calories of grapes is better than 600 calories from pretzels, chips, or some other snack I could be having.

Yes...I could probably switch to veggies instead of fruit, but I like fruit.

Between that and the juice I drink for breakfast and lunch, I don't panic if I go over my calories a by 200-300 for the day: I'm fairly active lately and with almost 1000 calories coming from fruits and veggies, I'm okay with it.

tarawrites · February 2014

All my days tend to be over on sugar. I love to eat fruit. I eat it in the morning and usually for lunch or a snack. Just eating an apple and some pineapple can put me over my sugar limit. I know eating fruit is good for me, but how can sugar limits be so restrictive as to not even allow two good servings of fruit. Is there a difference in the sugar. Like carbs, is there good sugar and bad sugar. Is sugar in fruit ok? It's not like sugar in candy or cake. Or is it?

The sugar in fruit is called fructose. The human body doesn't make the difference between refined sugar and fructose. So if you eat fruits, you can easily exceed your daily carbs. Kiwi, berries, and avocado have less sugar, making them a better choice. If you want to lose weight or you follow a low carb diet, try to avoid fruits. When it comes to weight loss, eating fruit it's the same as having a dessert.