Sugar in fruit :(

ameyls · June 2014

Hi, everyone ~

I'm feeling super frustrated by how MFD calculates sugar intake. I love to eat fresh fruit--not TONS of it, but I generally have a serving of fruit with breakfast, one for a snack, and then one with dinner or as a dessert. Without fail, I end up going over my sugar allotment every day. However, if I ate processed sweets (like Luna bars) in place of the fruit, my sugar intake would be fine!

I refuse to believe that a bowl of cherries is worse for me (sugar-wise) than a Luna Bar, but I HATE seeing the big red number down at the bottom every day. Is there any way to track natural sugar vs. added sugar? Seems like that would be an important distinction. Or is it all the same, as far as your body is concerned?

Seriously--how can a bowl of cherries have as much sugar as a Snickers bar????

JoanaMHill · June 2014

I don't track sugar for this reason. While it's true sugar is something to cut back on, especially if you have a condition that it aggravates, it's counterproductive to worry about the sugar content of grapes or an apple when it provides more nutrition than a candy bar with the same amount.

bethfartman · June 2014

Of course a bowl of cherries has as much sugar as some candy bars- they're sweet. Sweet=sugar. Just don't worry about it and try not to eat many things with ADDED sugar. For the most part, sugar is sugar, regardless of the source, as far as your body is concerned. However, you have to think about the things you get with your sugar- a bowl of cherries has a slew of other nutrients and phytonutrients that a snickers bar just doesn't have.

kshiraakshara · June 2014

I don't stress about sugar from fruit, but if the red number is bothering you, you can change your daily sugar goal. When you're on your "Home" page, click on "Goals" on the blue menu up top, then click on the green button that says "Change My Goals," and select "Custom: Manually set my own custom fitness goals."

TheStephil · June 2014

MFP is just giving you the information - it's your choice if you use it or not. If you have no health concerns that are affected by sugar - ignore it. I don't have sugar listed in my diary because I don't care. Sugar by itself won't cause a stall in your weight loss, it's just a carb.

My best advice, ignore it and focus on your calories, protein and fat and make sure to hit your protein and fat goals.

jstout365 · June 2014

Home ---> Settings ----> Diary Settings ---> Click on drop down bar containing "Sugar" ----> Set to "none" or some other available field.

Now you don't have to see the red and you can continue eating healthy fruit without the mental anguish. As the other poster said, unless you have a medical condition that is linked to sugar consumption, there is little reason to track it when you are eating mostly fruit and not sources of refined sugar.

DeliriumCanBeFun · June 2014

I go WAY over in sugar every single day, mainly because of fruit. I track it just for fun I guess, and to prove a point to others. My diary is open if you're interested, but I do have my carb goal set pretty high. If you're hitting your macros, there's no need to worry. All the sugar is included with your carbs. And if it bothers you to see the red number, you can track something else in it's place.