Natural or added? Are all sugars related equal?

Goatgirl8

Is there a nutritional difference between Added sugar and naturally occurring sugar in our diet? If I so much as each one serving each of fruit and dairy I'm over my daily allotment. I'm perplexed. I did a search for this subject on the internet and this site and still don't have an answer.

SideSteel

Is there a nutritional difference between Added sugar and naturally occurring sugar in our diet? If I so much as each one serving each of fruit and dairy I'm over my daily allotment. I'm perplexed. I did a search for this subject on the internet and this site and still don't have an answer.

Yes, there's a nutritional difference. I would summarize as follows:

1) Sugar has calories and will provide energy.
2) Non nutritive sweeteners are generally safe provided you're not consuming ridiculous amounts of them.

But something else to mention:

3) If such a low amount of fruit/dairy puts you over your sugar allowance, and you do not have a medical reason to restrict sugar, I would suggest that you simply have too low of a sugar target.

taylor5877

Most dietary recommendation sites I've seen specify ADDED sugar to the suggestion of limiting sugar.

To that end I'd call fruit juices added sugars though.

beckajw

Is there a nutritional difference between Added sugar and naturally occurring sugar in our diet? If I so much as each one serving each of fruit and dairy I'm over my daily allotment. I'm perplexed. I did a search for this subject on the internet and this site and still don't have an answer.

Yes and no. Sugar is sugar no matter the source. However, naturally occurring sugars generally come with a lot of added benefits like fiber, vitamins and nutrients.

However, there is no reason to track sugar. Don't worry about going over on the MFP preset amount. Instead, track your fiber, carbs, protein, fat and sodium.