5-A-Day vs sugar consumption?

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mortuseon
mortuseon Posts: 579 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hey MFP,

I've been here for a couple of weeks now and I wanted to find out if anyone else has this problem. I get a lot of my 5-a-day from fruit, as it's an easy and yummy post-workout snack and somewhat easier to eat than veggies (think grabbing an apple on the way out vs. cooking broccoli). I like to get my 5 a day, if not more.
However, I find myself going over on sugar almost every day despite the fact that I do my best to avoid sugary products; in one day I might have a yoghurt with added sugar, and muesli (the sugar content of which also comes from fruit). Everything else comes from the fruit I eat*.
Is there any other way I can cut down on sugar while still getting my 5 a day? I know fruit sugars are supposedly better than processed ones, but I feel as if I'm failing a bit every time I see that little red '-x' appear on my daily intake!

Thank you. :)
*oh, and carrots. they're pretty high sugar too.

Replies

  • CHABABOY
    CHABABOY Posts: 1 Member
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    :smile: I had the same issue, especially with limiting my sugar intake. I switched to low-fat cottage cheese instead of yogurt to get my calcium & protein. as to fruit - no more dried fruit, but really more veggies - greens mostly or steamed - you can expand your veggie intake to other than broccoli, too.
  • lilchino4af
    lilchino4af Posts: 1,292 Member
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    MFP doesn't take into consideration the different sugars out there (i.e. natural, processed, etc.). As long as the bulk of your sugars are natural from fruits and veggies you should be ok.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    the 5 a day is a little off the majority should come from the veggie side. If you eat 5 you should get a minimum of 3 veggie servings. If you eat 7 you should get at least 4 veggies.

    The MFP intake for sugar from my understanding is for added sugar, not natural as found in milk and fruit. The issue is that MFP does not break out natural vs. added, which is why I don't track sugar on the site.

    The sugar in the fruit will not be bad for you unless you are diabetic or pre-diabetic, that being said fruit has a lot more calories then veggies due to the high amount of sugar.
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
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    Similar to the reply above me. Look to veggies for your five a day guideline. Honestly, I'm normally around 10-11 a day and only eat fruit once a week or so. I eat lots of veggies and have 'em with breakfast, lunch and dinner and often as snacks as well. Occasionally I'll treat myself to an apple or some berries of some kind, but I found that when I was eating even just one serving of fruit every day I wasn't losing like when I don't.

    Also, muesli is pretty much the same as granola. Which means that you're probably getting sugar from way more than the bit of fruit in it. They typically use honey, sugar, brown sugar, cane sugar, corn syrup or any other myriad of sweeteners depending on the brand, to bake the oats to crisp it and make it sweeter.
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
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    the 5 a day is a little off the majority should come from the veggie side. If you eat 5 you should get a minimum of 3 veggie servings. If you eat 7 you should get at least 4 veggies.

    The MFP intake for sugar from my understanding is for added sugar, not natural as found in milk and fruit. The issue is that MFP does not break out natural vs. added, which is why I don't track sugar on the site.

    The sugar in the fruit will not be bad for you unless you are diabetic or pre-diabetic, that being said fruit has a lot more calories then veggies due to the high amount of sugar.

    Yep. Fruit sugar is nothing to really worry about if you're healthy, but you should eat more vegetables than fruit. You don't have to cook all vegetables, broccoli and cauliflower are great raw.
  • robin52077
    robin52077 Posts: 4,383 Member
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    the 5 a day is a little off the majority should come from the veggie side. If you eat 5 you should get a minimum of 3 veggie servings. If you eat 7 you should get at least 4 veggies.

    The MFP intake for sugar from my understanding is for added sugar, not natural as found in milk and fruit. The issue is that MFP does not break out natural vs. added, which is why I don't track sugar on the site.

    The sugar in the fruit will not be bad for you unless you are diabetic or pre-diabetic, that being said fruit has a lot more calories then veggies due to the high amount of sugar.

    this

    5 a day of fruits and veggies should be about 1 or 2 fruits and 3 or 4 veggies.

    5 fruits and no veggies = no good

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