Sugar Settings- Natural Vs Added- Mystery Solved!

NikkisNewStart

Hi all. I was curious as to why I was ALWAYS over my sugar goals. I try to eat unprocessed foods but it seemed the simplest of fruits would throw me WAY over my daily goal... I thought fruit was good for me?!? Well- it is! The sugar settings on MFP are for the amount of added sugars, not naturally occurring sugars that are found in fruit and other foods. I found this very good article that explains the difference and why it is so tricky to distinguish the difference. A lot of convenience foods we may eat have a small amount of natural sugars but a large amount of added sugars. Unfortunately, manufacturers are not required to distinguish between the two on food labels. A small list of commonly consumed foods are given in the article (juice, peanut butter, spaghetti sauce, granola bars, yogurt) with an approximation of how much of the sugar is natural and how much of the sugar is added in each of these products.

So- do not fret if you consistently go over your sugar goals because of fruit- the recommended daily intake listed is for ADDED sugars only (think table sugar and HFCS). However, consuming too much of anything (natural sugars included) is not recommended either. I would stick to fruits that provide the most bang for your buck in nutritional value. I hope this clears things up for some!

http://www.rodale.com/recommended-sugar-intake?page=0,0

sovrappensiero

I know this is a late reply, but I wanted to add a comment with some more information for any who might stumble across this while searching the internet (like I did today, even though I'm a MFP user!) See below for the link...

Thanks for posting; I had been disturbed by this very same phenomenon myself! I could not for the life of me figure out how to stay within my recommended sugar intake values AND consume the right number of carbs to keep myself going. Then I figured out the "added sugar" part. Now my question is this: so what's the recommended intake of sugars from natural sources (i.e. whole fruits and veggies, milk, plain yogurt)?

Anyways, here's the resource I wanted to provide: http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/HealthyDietGoals/Added-Sugars-Conference_UCM_306862_Article.jsp

It's a link to the webpage describing AHA's Added Sugars Conference, held in May 2010. On the page there is a PDF link called "AHA Sugars Scientific Statement" (at least there is as of this writing). I think it's the source that's mentioned in the article you posted. I found it before I read your post; it contains more details about added sugars and their effects on the body. Best of all, it's evidence-based!

Hope someone finds it useful!

Cheers,
Jessica

sovrappensiero

Got an answer to my question about total sugar intake (=natural sugars - added sugars) from www.dietitian.com, another cool site. It's managed by Joanne Larsen, MS, RD, LD, and on the site one can find the "Healthy Body Calculator". In my opinion this is the best resource I have found for calculating nutrition guidelines - it's certainly the most comprehensive I've seen on the 'net. Even pregnant/lactating women can use it!

Using that calculator, I found my recommended daily sugar intake (64g). Subtract 24g (AHA recommended upper threshold for added sugars for women) from that and - tada! - I personally should aim for 40 grams natural sugars daily.

Just thought I'd share that second link for anyone interested who might "wander by" this post!

motorgreg_pdx

40g natural sugar is like 1 medium apple and 1 banana?

yarwell

40g natural sugar is like 1 medium apple and 1 banana?

Zombie resurrection.

The MFP sugar settings have changed, and all sugars are natural...

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1181259-so-what-s-with-this-sugar-then-revised-faq-jan-2014