Sugar

sehlke
sehlke Posts: 2
in Food and Nutrition
I seem to always go over my recommended sugar intake for the day. Does anyone have any tips on how to reduce sugar. I love fruit, and usually a banana will cover about half of my allotted fruit intake for the day. I can never seem to come in under the recommended levels for sugar - everything else I am okay with.

Replies

  • Vogon42
    Vogon42 Posts: 10
    Yeah, same here. I think I'm great I see all green until i see I'm in the red with sugar. Every single day.

    A few grapes or tsp of honey or the tiny amout of agave in my oatmeal puts me over. It seems unrealistic
    at almost a zero tolerance for sugar of any type here.

    I got to the point where I changed my tracking so I dont SEE the sugar on the page, but I checked it daily anyway.
    I dont have any tips on how to reduce it, just a bit of a commiseration.

    I wish the tracking program was more adaptable to a healthy sugar and fruitfriendly diet
  • marathon_mama
    marathon_mama Posts: 150 Member
    Sugar is sugar...
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    Stop tracking it. Just track carbohydrates.
  • Koldnomore
    Koldnomore Posts: 1,613 Member
    If you want to lower sugar then you will need to make choices including not having bananas. Raspberries are much lower in sugar.

    I don't know about the artificial sweeteners because my choice was to not use any. I switched from coffee w/cream & sugar to black. I went from 2% milk to almond milk for my oats. I eliminated virtually every snack that 'had' to be sweetened (ie. greek yogurt with fruit) and instead switched to eggs or tuna for my snacks. I'll still occasionally have the odd granola bar (which has sugar) and sweet potatoes are my bane so I may decide to go back to 'normal' potatoes but I normally manage to stay between about 30 - 40g /day (I'm set to 24 because it is a focus for me and I need to work on it)

    Basically..you need to choose to have things that are not sweet and limit your fruit to only 1 piece of something not too sweet / day.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    Only 1 piece of fruit a day really sucks. The only times that happens to me is when I have no money to buy more fruit! Two-three pieces of fruit each day is optimal. Also bananas are excellent! Please don't stop eating them out of an unfounded fear of sugar. Our brains run on sugar, btw.
  • CM9178
    CM9178 Posts: 1,251 Member
    I don't track my sugar, but it looks like I usually go over around 30 to 40 g per day as well.. I use Truvia in my coffee .. it looks like my biggest issues are my snacks (I like sweet things), and fruit. If I have fruit, it is usually an apple or banana, because they make me feel fuller, but I don't eat them every single day. It doesn't look like I'm eating anything loaded with sugar, it just adds up with 5g here and there throughout the day. My bigger concern is carbs and I'm always well under with them..so I'm happy with that. Plus the fact that I used to use 2 tsp of sugar in my coffee everyday and now I'm not using it at all. that's a pretty big improvement.
  • cbrrabbit25
    cbrrabbit25 Posts: 384 Member
    theres another thread just posted about this here...
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/779790-hi-can-you-tell-me-if-i-go-over-my-sugars-is-that-bad
  • newcs
    newcs Posts: 717 Member
    I ignore sugar but try to limit straight up sugar (white sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar, honey, molasses, maple syrup) and don't pay attention to sugar counts in fruit. I have a wicked sweet tooth so if it's between pounding a pint of blueberries or a half a cake, I'll go with the blueberries.
  • Type1Rachelle
    Type1Rachelle Posts: 71
    I don't limit fruit intake at all, but if that's your goal, you might want to look into berries - they have some of the lowest sugar content of fruit.... frozen blueberries are fantastic!

    ps - grapes are about the worst as they are very low in fiber
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    I don't limit fruit intake at all, but if that's your goal, you might want to look into berries - they have some of the lowest sugar content of fruit.... frozen blueberries are fantastic!

    ps - grapes are about the worst as they are very low in fiber

    But grapes are perhaps the yummiest fruit of all! :drinker:
  • sehlke
    sehlke Posts: 2
    Thanks for your tips everyone!
    I just hid the surgar tracking option - out of site out of mind.

    I don't eat candy, cookies, or soda every day, it's just that dang fruit which I just can't convince myself is bad for you. So I just am not going to focus so much on the sugar.
  • lacewitch
    lacewitch Posts: 766 Member
    Hi ther. I am trying to cut down on sugar!
    I have decide to cut out processed food. to get my sugar from milk and fruit sources but try to avoid anything with sugar on an ingredients list to try and be under my sugar for the next 2 weeks to see if i readjust my sweet tooth and sugar habit!
  • cjlcarmody
    cjlcarmody Posts: 22 Member
    In the past I believe excess fruit eating, because I thought it was healthy, was a major cause of my weight gain. I now limit fruit to a couple pieces a day, but I'm finding in response to this I need to add more fibre to my diet. Some of the commercial fibre products have sugar added to them as well.

    I don't worry too much about sugar in unprocessed foods such as fruit, but I try my hardest not to add any sugar via syrups, drinks and processed food. I think if you do this you are already a long way ahead of many people.

    Once you see sugar as a problem so many foods are no longer on the list to buy. To be honest I look at sugar enhanced items as entertainment and not as food.

    Sugar is such a dominant ingredient in our Western diet it will be interesting over the next few years to see if consumer fall in demand for sugar enhanced products will see many products modified or the increased us of alternates like Stevia, it is already starting to be added to soda drinks.
  • olores
    olores Posts: 257 Member
    ME TOO...GREAT QUESTION! I'M WAITNG FOR THESE REPLYS TOO!!
  • Graceious1
    Graceious1 Posts: 716 Member
    think if you're eating natural sugars it's fine. I am not a sugar fairy really and the only types that I eat are in fruit. Put it this way, I bet you're eating alot less sugar now than you were before!
  • lollyfidy1965
    lollyfidy1965 Posts: 15 Member
    If you're a reader, I highly recommend "The End of Overeating.". It may help you change your relationship with food, in general, and sugar, in particular. Especially as it relates to processed foods.

    I don't eat anything with added sugars (including the hidden demon, corn syrup), and rarely eat fruit (except for unsweetened applesauce, which I use to mix a pill in, twice a day). What carbs I do eat come from non-starchy veggies. Starches (pastas, rices, breads, potatoes, etc) also never touch my plate. You might as well eat table sugar! :)
  • pixtotts
    pixtotts Posts: 552 Member
    im trying to cut out sugar... but only bad sugar..
    I dont count fruit sugar, as sugar because fruit is good for you! lol
    x
  • Thesoundofwolf
    Thesoundofwolf Posts: 378 Member
    Good sugar vs Bad sugar. GO.

    That'sa ll it comes down to in the end. ANd the system just doesn't have the ability to track natural sugars from fruits vs sugars made from carbs or sugars from aritifcal (candy/soda) means.
  • nikilis
    nikilis Posts: 2,305 Member
    Eat vegetables instead of fruit to get your 5 a day.

    look up the recommended sugar intake and adjust yours to fit. if you'r still loosing. everyone wins.


    in the end, vegetables are better than fruit.
  • nikilis
    nikilis Posts: 2,305 Member
    Good sugar vs Bad sugar. GO.

    That'sa ll it comes down to in the end. ANd the system just doesn't have the ability to track natural sugars from fruits vs sugars made from carbs or sugars from aritifcal (candy/soda) means.

    are they different?
  • richardheath
    richardheath Posts: 1,276 Member
    Sugar is a carbohydrate. If you are tracking carbs, you are already tracking sugar.

    The only bad sugar, AFAICT, is if you are eating or drinking too much of it "neat" - in soda, or adding it to coffee etc. But, primarily, this is because you are not getting any other nutrients with it, so it will throw your macronutrient balance off. A piece of fruit has fiber and other nutrients - a can of coke has none of that. A glass of milk has protein and fat as well as lactose.

    The advice from my diabetic books even is to ignore the sugar count, and just concentrate on the overall carbs. [Although they do all say avoid processed food as much as possible!]
  • nikilis
    nikilis Posts: 2,305 Member
    Sugar is a carbohydrate. If you are tracking carbs, you are already tracking sugar.

    The only bad sugar, AFAICT, is if you are eating or drinking too much of it "neat" - in soda, or adding it to coffee etc. But, primarily, this is because you are not getting any other nutrients with it, so it will throw your macronutrient balance off. A piece of fruit has fiber and other nutrients - a can of coke has none of that. A glass of milk has protein and fat as well as lactose.

    The advice from my diabetic books even is to ignore the sugar count, and just concentrate on the overall carbs. [Although they do all say avoid processed food as much as possible!]

    that sir, is a definitive answer. good show old boy!
  • kborton1122
    kborton1122 Posts: 914 Member
    I have the same problem. I think I will remove sugar from the list that I am tracking.
  • cjlcarmody
    cjlcarmody Posts: 22 Member
    I'm still on about sugar. I can't get over how good my skin feels lately. I don't know if it is a direct cause of eating less sugar or the benefits of weight reduction. I had a small patch of exma on one ear which never seemed to go away, and now not a sign of it at all. Dandruff seems to have gone as well. I have read that sugar is not good for your skin, I seem to be getting some evidence thst supports this.
  • Yukongil
    Yukongil Posts: 166 Member
    Sugar is a carbohydrate. If you are tracking carbs, you are already tracking sugar.

    The only bad sugar, AFAICT, is if you are eating or drinking too much of it "neat" - in soda, or adding it to coffee etc. But, primarily, this is because you are not getting any other nutrients with it, so it will throw your macronutrient balance off. A piece of fruit has fiber and other nutrients - a can of coke has none of that. A glass of milk has protein and fat as well as lactose.

    The advice from my diabetic books even is to ignore the sugar count, and just concentrate on the overall carbs. [Although they do all say avoid processed food as much as possible!]

    great post. Sugars eaten like that are just throwing your calories away. They are about nutritionally void as you can get and don't do anything to fill you up. I've never been a big sweets guy, but this has helped me; when looking at that piece of candy or slice of cake, I realize that I could have a steak, a salad bigger than my head, or even a cheeseburger for about the same calorie intake, which would also be more satisfying and better nutritionally.
  • cjlcarmody
    cjlcarmody Posts: 22 Member
    so you are making a choice between food and entertainment - I find that to be very helpful in my own thinking :smile:

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