Too much sugar in my diet!

reneealyse

I've just logged my breakfast for today - nothing else and I'm already over sugar allocation for the day!

I had Sanitarium Light N Tasty with a small pot of fruit yoghurt and a coffee with one teaspoon of sugar. If that takes me over my daily sugar intake, what am I meant to do for the rest of the day? I'm wondering why the allocated sugar intake is so low - I realise if I cut out as much sugar as I can it will be better for me, but seriously, the given amount I can't even eat a piece of fruit today! Or does this mean my cereal is too high in sugar?

Syreeta6

I try not to count fruit sugars, but even after switching to unsweetened almond milk, lower sugar cereals I still find that I am over. But definitely not as much as I was before. Also be sure to check labels to make sure the ingredients aren't "disguised" that are actually sugars like the OSE's (fructose, dextrose, etc.)

lewandt

I am always over. I think they have it low on here. If it is from fruit i would not worry. If it is from candy, etc i would cut back.

bbysars

It could be from your yogurt as well. It seems like it's a healthy (well I suppose it's a healthier option than a bacon sandwich) but it's loaded with sugar which is not the best. Try greek yogurt with fresh fruit in it instead. I was eating special k every morning and my sugar/carbs were so high from it. I guess everything in moderation is fine but I personally will only eat a bowl of cereal a week now.

jadedone

I generally do not follow the sugar reccomnedations, but I try to limit added sugars generally.

For example, if you eat a standard bowl of cereal, the processors add 3-10 teaspoons of sugar. Depending on the brand. Flavored yogurt is more like 5-6. Even innocuous things like marinara sauce or salad dressing have added sugars.

The goal is to have less than 7 teaspoons of added sugar a day.

Here is a recent study:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-04-21-sugar21_ST_N.htm

I try to avoid as many added sugars as possible, and ignore ones that come from fruit or plain dairy products.

Over time, it gets easier to avoid these added sugars and you'll find you might even hate some of the processed foods. Make replacements where you can on unprocessed foods, and look out for the secret sugars on your packaged goods: high fructose corn syrup, cane juice, brown rice syrup, etc. There are at least 15 names for added sugars.

Pandorian

I treat the "limit" as being for added sugars. I don't "count" the sugar from my fruit. I also don't have the underlying health issues that would make me worry about sugar intake too much.

Definitely check your ingredients lists, some definitely 'hide' how much sugar is in an item by main ingredient being some non sugar ingredient followed by 2 or 3 of the ose's mentioned in the 2nd post... if they were just sugar they'd be listed as the main ingredient but by using the different types of sugar in lesser amounts they can move it down the list of ingredients.

Aegelis

Artificially sweetners are just plain nasty leaving a funky aftertaste and I've heard that the chemicals in them haven't completed testing for long-term carcinogenic effects but I don't think it's possible to have too much natural or real sugar in your diet and by your diet I mean my diet because it gives you and by you I mean me the quick energy I need to get a lot of work done in my hectic busy day while still having the energy to enjoy my evening so sometimes for every half cup of coffee I will use two teaspoons of sugar along with the sugar that's in CoffeeMate Creamer™ like Irish Cream in the morning or Vanilla Cream in the afternoon though the Coconut and Italian Sweet Cream also goes really good with the sugar and that's not counting the sugar that's naturally in fruit or that I dump into other things like the brown sugar in Teriyaki Sauce or Barbeque which is totally awesome on things like chicken or ribs but can I tell you no sugar is complete without chocolate like in those dark chocolate Hershey™ OH MY GOSH kisses that are only twenty calories ooh so excited about that or even on a Friday night when I'm feeling especially froggy I'll jump for the Ghiradelli™ totally awesome Twilight Dark cacao squares which are seventy-two percent of a perfect pitch between sweet and bitter chocolate *passes out from lack of oxygen*

michelegrayson

This is why I stay away from as much of the processed foods as possible. They have so much loaded sugar! 21 grams of sugar for yogurt and cereal is WAY high. You might want to try oatmeal or something with less sugar.

On a related note , a dear friend 83 years old was told she MAY be pre-diabetic and to cut back on sugar. She took her doctor seriously and started reading the label on everything she ate and if it had more than 4 grams of sugar (I think that is equal to 1 tsp) she did not eat it. Well, she did this for 3 months and lost 25 pounds WHICH SHE DID NOT HAVE TO LOSE she is such a little thing! She went back to the doctor and he freaked at how small she was and told her to go home and start eating snickers bars . It worried us because she really did too thin.

However this made me very aware of reading labels and finding out how much sugar was in things like milk and cottage cheese, whole wheat bread and lowfat stuff I thought was good for me. I try to follow her lead now and really watch out for the added sugars!!

Best of luck to you!

reneealyse

They have my limit on here as 24grams of sugar a day - this morning 10 of that was from cereal, 11 from yoghurt and 5 from the coffee. I haven't done any exercise yet today, yesterday I did and it increased my daily sugar intake to 32grams (but then I ruined it by having a piece of pavlova which had about 30grams of sugar!)

reneealyse

I try not to count fruit sugars, but even after switching to unsweetened almond milk, lower sugar cereals I still find that I am over. But definitely not as much as I was before. Also be sure to check labels to make sure the ingredients aren't "disguised" that are actually sugars like the OSE's (fructose, dextrose, etc.)

Sugar is a sneaky little creature!

reneealyse

It could be from your yogurt as well. It seems like it's a healthy (well I suppose it's a healthier option than a bacon sandwich) but it's loaded with sugar which is not the best. Try greek yogurt with fresh fruit in it instead. I was eating special k every morning and my sugar/carbs were so high from it. I guess everything in moderation is fine but I personally will only eat a bowl of cereal a week now.

Yea that's a good idea, guess Light N Tasty isn't that light after all - is kinda tasty though :frown: So you think a good thing to have for breakfast is greek yoghurt with fruit - like maybe berries etc?

reneealyse

Artificially sweetners are just plain nasty leaving a funky aftertaste and I've heard that the chemicals in them haven't completed testing for long-term carcinogenic effects but I don't think it's possible to have too much natural or real sugar in your diet and by your diet I mean my diet because it gives you and by you I mean me the quick energy I need to get a lot of work done in my hectic busy day while still having the energy to enjoy my evening so sometimes for every half cup of coffee I will use two teaspoons of sugar along with the sugar that's in CoffeeMate Creamer™ like Irish Cream in the morning or Vanilla Cream in the afternoon though the Coconut and Italian Sweet Cream also goes really good with the sugar and that's not counting the sugar that's naturally in fruit or that I dump into other things like the brown sugar in Teriyaki Sauce or Barbeque which is totally awesome on things like chicken or ribs but can I tell you no sugar is complete without chocolate like in those dark chocolate Hershey™ OH MY GOSH kisses that are only twenty calories ooh so excited about that or even on a Friday night when I'm feeling especially froggy I'll jump for the Ghiradelli™ totally awesome Twilight Dark cacao squares which are seventy-two percent of a perfect pitch between sweet and bitter chocolate *passes out from lack of oxygen*

It's a bit too early in the morning here in New Zealand to crave chocolate but I could really go for some ribs right now! I hate that all someone has to do is mention a certain food and I start craving it - ribs at 9.30am is a little strange but I could make it work lol

reneealyse

This is why I stay away from as much of the processed foods as possible. They have so much loaded sugar! 21 grams of sugar for yogurt and cereal is WAY high. You might want to try oatmeal or something with less sugar.

On a related note , a dear friend 83 years old was told she MAY be pre-diabetic and to cut back on sugar. She took her doctor seriously and started reading the label on everything she ate and if it had more than 4 grams of sugar (I think that is equal to 1 tsp) she did not eat it. Well, she did this for 3 months and lost 25 pounds WHICH SHE DID NOT HAVE TO LOSE she is such a little thing! She went back to the doctor and he freaked at how small she was and told her to go home and start eating snickers bars . It worried us because she really did too thin.

However this made me very aware of reading labels and finding out how much sugar was in things like milk and cottage cheese, whole wheat bread and lowfat stuff I thought was good for me. I try to follow her lead now and really watch out for the added sugars!!

Best of luck to you!

Wow that is amazing! I wonder how difficult it would be to stick to the 4grams or less of sugar in everything you eat? My difficulty is that I cook for myself and my partner every night but I'm also poorhara as (unofficial Maori for broke *kitten*) so the food we eat is probably not as nutritional as it could be - certainly not the leanest cuts of meat and tend to have potatoes, pasta and rice reasonably often as it's cheap. I can control my breakfasts and lunches a bit more though.

reneealyse

I generally do not follow the sugar reccomnedations, but I try to limit added sugars generally.

For example, if you eat a standard bowl of cereal, the processors add 3-10 teaspoons of sugar. Depending on the brand. Flavored yogurt is more like 5-6. Even innocuous things like marinara sauce or salad dressing have added sugars.

The goal is to have less than 7 teaspoons of added sugar a day.

Here is a recent study:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-04-21-sugar21_ST_N.htm

I try to avoid as many added sugars as possible, and ignore ones that come from fruit or plain dairy products.

Over time, it gets easier to avoid these added sugars and you'll find you might even hate some of the processed foods. Make replacements where you can on unprocessed foods, and look out for the secret sugars on your packaged goods: high fructose corn syrup, cane juice, brown rice syrup, etc. There are at least 15 names for added sugars.

That study was really interesting, especially the tips on added sugar:

Bonnie Liebman, a nutritionist with the Center for Science in the Public Interest, offers these ideas for the consumption of added sugars in the January/February edition of Nutrition Action HealthLetter:

• Follow the American Heart Association guidelines and limit yourself to 100 calories a day of added sugar (6 1/2 teaspoons or 25 grams) if you're a woman; 150 calories (9 1/2 teaspoons or 38 grams) if you're a man. Even less may be better for your heart.

• Don't drink beverages sweetened with sugar, high fructose corn syrup or other caloric sweeteners.

• Limit fruit juices to no more than one cup a day.

• Limit all added sugars, including high fructose corn syrup, cane or beet sugar, evaporated cane juice, brown rice syrup, agave syrup and honey.

• Don't worry about naturally occurring sugar in fruit, milk and plain yogurt.

I think I'll try to follow that as much as I can - turns out the 24grams of sugar MFP allocates for me a day is pretty much the right amount!

mooglysmom

I was just getting on here to ask this!
It seems like I'm always hitting my sugar intake from breakfast alone. I have Greek yogurt (plain) with a banana or strawberries in it. No cereal. Sometimes I have a piece of Udi's toast.

reneealyse

I was just getting on here to ask this!
It seems like I'm always hitting my sugar intake from breakfast alone. I have Greek yogurt (plain) with a banana or strawberries in it. No cereal. Sometimes I have a piece of Udi's toast.

And you find greek yoghurt with fruit is hitting your sugar limit? Man that's not cool, hat was my next brekky option!