Sugar Shock

KarinaGeneva
KarinaGeneva Posts: 21 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm using the pre-set MFP guidelines for grams of sugar per day. It sets a goal of 33 g of sugar per day (on a 1600 / day diet). Really?? I just had breakfast -- a half cup of granola (10g sugar), a banana (14g) and 3/4 c skim milk (9 g). Ok, I know that's a relatively high sugar breakfast, but I am now over my sugar limit for the entire day! Is that right??

I guess I'm going to have to stick with grape nuts instead of granola, and that will save 5g of sugar, but a cup of blueberries instead of bananas is still 14g sugar! Does a 33 g sugar limit sound right?

Replies

  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    Ignore sugar. There's no good reason to track it unless you have Diabetes.
  • Zekela
    Zekela Posts: 634 Member
    I always wonder about that too... I ignore it. I've never ever been within my sugar limits and my diet is based on 1,600 cals a day as well...
  • kimberg75
    kimberg75 Posts: 412 Member
    I don't track sugar...when I did awhile back I just changed the number to something more manageable like 55 or 60 g. There's a lot of sugar in fruit but I figure fruit is way better for you than a candy bar so why worry about the sugar in fruit? I just track carbs, fat, protein, fiber and sodium...and calories of course.
  • elpiper
    elpiper Posts: 183 Member
    I have diabetes and I dont worry about my sugar from fruit sources. The other stuff is a ***** on my body, but fruit doesnt mess me up. Just cookies, cakes, and the like. I have found some good lower sugar options for sweets like skinny cow icecream and dole makes dark chocolate covered bananas that are pretty fab.
  • Alderaic
    Alderaic Posts: 294 Member
    Ignore sugar. There's no good reason to track it unless you have Diabetes.
    well a good reason is that refined sugar is close to empty calories and does not feed you with valuable nutrients.
    So eating something with less sugar could keep you fuller and healthier.
    (which means that in this case the sugar in the granola was likely not needed)
  • Marie_25
    Marie_25 Posts: 67 Member
    Hi

    I discovered this prblem too, as I eat a lot of fruit. I think the definition of sugar should be separated out here, but I assume MFP isn't able to do this. I assume that 'refined sugar' is different from natural sugars found in a lot of raw foods. I decided not to track sugar and deleted it from my main page so I don't have to see red numbers every day!

    Hope this helps.

    Marie

    Edited to add: As long as your sensible about the type of food you eat, I don't see a problem not tracking sugar, unless you need to for health reasons
  • Dragonflyzone
    Dragonflyzone Posts: 1
    It is also important to track if you are pre-diabetic and it's my understanding that many of us overweight folks fit into that category.
  • msleanlegs
    msleanlegs Posts: 188 Member
    I go over on sugar every day, so I stopped tracking it. If you're getting your sugar from natural sources, I don't think going over is anything to be concerned about. (Unless, like other posters mentioned, you have a blood sugar problem.)
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    Hi

    I discovered this prblem too, as I eat a lot of fruit. I think the definition of sugar should be separated out here, but I assume MFP isn't able to do this. I assume that 'refined sugar' is different from natural sugars found in a lot of raw foods. I decided not to track sugar and deleted it from my main page so I don't have to see red numbers every day!

    Hope this helps.

    Marie

    Edited to add: As long as your sensible about the type of food you eat, I don't see a problem not tracking sugar, unless you need to for health reasons
    Your assumption is incorrect. Natural sugars found in raw foods are fructose, glucose, and sucrose (and maltose, galactose, and several hundred others.) Refined sugar is sucrose, glucose, or fructose. It's exactly the same, and is digested in exactly the same manner as natural sugars. Sugar is just a carb, you already track carbs, by also tracking sugar, you are just tracking the same thing twice.
  • Alderaic
    Alderaic Posts: 294 Member
    missing lactose for all the dairy products
  • KarinaGeneva
    KarinaGeneva Posts: 21 Member
    Thanks everyone, for all the advice. I've decided to increase the target to 50g instead of 33g. This way I still pay attention to the sugar, but the target is not a guaranteed fail. Based on your advice, I'm not going to worry about the sugar too much (especially if it comes from fruit and skim milk or yogurt), but I am going to try to minimize the refined sugars. Thanks again -- I appreciate the info and support!
  • healthygreek
    healthygreek Posts: 2,137 Member
    Try musli. It's lower than granola.

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