Grams of Sugar per day

keenesmom
keenesmom Posts: 115 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I have a really hard time keeping my allowed grams of sugar per day at or under the recommended amount. Matter of fact I don't think I have achieved it even once. Here's my question...When the recommended amount is given by MFP does it include natural sugars in fruits or is it just added sugar? I eat several pieces of fruit per day and am wondering if that is what is putting me over.

Replies

  • bcf7683
    bcf7683 Posts: 1,653 Member
    I basically use that number to track my added sugars daily. You'll hear different things from people, but I see natural sugars from fruits, etc. not as a huge problem as sugars from breads, pastas, crackers- things like that.

    Most of my sugars are natural, from fruits and other whole foods. I have a banana everyday for breakfast- that alone puts me at almost 18g in one meal. With that said, I still try to stay below 40-ish grams, including the fruits.
  • duckfloats
    duckfloats Posts: 30
    I'm with you, keenesmom. I had 2 large apples yesterday. Those alone put me way over the recommended sugar intake.
  • keenesmom
    keenesmom Posts: 115 Member
    Thanks for the replies bcf and duck! That is what I thought. I wish there was a way to separate the fruit sugar from the added sugar in that total. I guess I just need to do it in my head. Dang...I hate math! LOL
  • ToughTulip
    ToughTulip Posts: 1,118 Member
    I never even look at my sugar intake. I don't have a medical need to track it so I don't bother.
    It is not going to effect fat loss
  • ron81008
    ron81008 Posts: 25 Member
    I am always over and it is "nearly" always with fruit.
  • mitch16
    mitch16 Posts: 2,113 Member
    I'm over nearly every single day, mostly from fruit, but also from my recommended daily allowance of chocolate. It's not hurting my weight loss goals in any way, shape, or form.
  • ontothesummit
    ontothesummit Posts: 11
    I have a banana every day to and it puts me close to being over by breakfast. I wish there was a separation too.
  • Melolicious
    Melolicious Posts: 71 Member
    I often go over on sugar and my trainer says not to worry about natural sugars in my fruits because my body uses them differnetly than processed and refined sugars. I have shunned sugar for the most part and if I must, I use coconut sugar as it has a lower GI response. I use honey and maple syrup and find a little goes a lot further than the equivalent calories of white table sugar. I go with 'clean' and try to be preservative and additive free. Fruit is my treat :)
  • Faye_Anderson
    Faye_Anderson Posts: 1,495 Member
    Thanks for the replies bcf and duck! That is what I thought. I wish there was a way to separate the fruit sugar from the added sugar in that total. I guess I just need to do it in my head. Dang...I hate math! LOL

    Create a food called "fruit sugar" make all the numbers (cals, protein etc) 0 apart from sugar, make that 1. Add up all the sugar from fruit in your day and enter this number as minus so many servings of fruit sugar, eg if 48g of today's sugar comes from fruit add -48 servings of fruit sugar to your diary and it will take this number off.

    Sorry, not very good at explaining things, does that make any sense at all? :blushing:
  • jonibc
    jonibc Posts: 104 Member
    I posted a similar thread a few weeks ago and people told me fruit sugar counts as sugar. However, if you aren't having blood sugar issues, then I would continue to eat fruit with no worries. I was prediabetic and about to enter the diabetic category so I'm trying to monitor my sugar and keep it under. If I skip fruits, dairy products are my next challenge. I'm amazed at how high in sugar they are.
  • Four_Leaf_Clover
    Four_Leaf_Clover Posts: 332 Member
    I started tracking it as well, just to be more aware of how much I was eating. It is very eye opening - but yes - fruit just blows it and in my case dairy (1 yogurt and 1 latte and I am already over). I am just using it to keep an eye on the other stuff I am eating.
  • JohnMessmer
    JohnMessmer Posts: 536
    "Naturally occurring sugars in fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy and whole grains don't need to be avoided, and make up part of a healthy diet"

    http://www.rodale.com/recommended-sugar-intake
  • IronPlayground
    IronPlayground Posts: 1,594 Member
    If you don't have a medical condition which would require you to track sugar intake, don't track it at all. You already track carbs. No need to add more reasons to stress.
  • keenesmom
    keenesmom Posts: 115 Member
    Thanks everyone! It's not affecting my weight loss and I don't have a medical need to track but I'm a little obessive when it comes to my "numbers" and I hate seeing those negative red numbers on my summary. For the next few days, I've decided to write down on a sheet of paper the amount of sugar grams from natural fruit that I am consuming. Once I see that the fruit is for sure the "culprit" I can stop stressing about it. Oh, and Faye, that is just too much work! LOL Hopefully the "powers that be" on MFP will create a separation of sugars one day.
  • Kipenzi7
    Kipenzi7 Posts: 24 Member

    Create a food called "fruit sugar" make all the numbers (cals, protein etc) 0 apart from sugar, make that 1. Add up all the sugar from fruit in your day and enter this number as minus so many servings of fruit sugar, eg if 48g of today's sugar comes from fruit add -48 servings of fruit sugar to your diary and it will take this number off.

    Great idea, thanks!! I too believe that natural sugar should be counted differently. I do try to eat fewer servings of fruit per day than vegetables, just to keep it even on that score. Based on your great tip, I just created a food for the database that does what you suggest. It's called 'naturally occurring sugars' if you want to search for it. All values are 0 except for sugar, which I actually made -1 cause that works better for my brain. Then I can look at my meals, and add an appropriate number of servings to make up for sugars I know are natural. if I'm not sure I just leave them.
    For example, today I had a banana and some almonds for breakfast, and some agave in my coffee. I left out the agave, and added 16 grams of 'naturally occurring sugars' to my breakfast. My daily total is now much more reasonable. Thanks!!
  • PnutLuv
    PnutLuv Posts: 15 Member
    So glad I stumbled on this post and I am not the only one bothered by the RED I always see in my sugar category. It's almost all fruit & low fat dairy, I know I'm eating well. Still bugs me though LOL Will try to stop obsessing. ;)

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