Sugar! is natural sugars from milk,fruit, and yogurt bad?

You will hear answers all accross the board on this one. Personally, I don't track sugars at all, I just stay in a deficit while hitting my macros.

I feel stupid to ask this but what the heck is a calorie deficit? :P lol

No worries!

Calorie deficit means that you are eating less then you expend.

So if you are under your calories basically :]

Read the ingredients on the labels for yogurt, sometimes they add sugar. But sugars in fresh fruits and vegetables are good for you because they are natural sugars, your body can break those sugars easily, unlike in e.g. candy or processed foods.

There is no definitive answer to the question, but 40 grams is the recommended amount for non-diabetic people. If you're diabetic or borderline diabetic, please see the note at the bottom. 40 grams of sugar refers mainly to added sugar, which is anything that is put into foods rather that which is naturally occurring such as in fruit. By this logic, for instance, ALL sugar in soda would be considered "added," since the beverage itself is constructed rather than harvested.


Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_grams_of_sugar_are_appropriate_per_day_for_the_average_adult#ixzz1bdlFrKeM

I don't think natural sugars are bad at all. Fruits and dairy are too important to give up the vitamins and nutrients they supply for the sake of the sugar content.. It's the processed sugars found in cake,cookies,candies and other junk foods that are unhealthy,empty calories. I have been a type 1 diabetic for 38yrs and have never given up healthy sugars. I try to make sure I have 2 servings of fruit daily. Just don't go overboard. Hope this helps. Best of luck on your journey. Diane

I think what people here are saying is: Fruit sugar is better than added sugar but yes sugar is sugar and if you eat 5,000 calories worth of fruit it will make you gain weight. However if you're looking at the goals for grams of carbs, protein and fat that MFP has laid out for you it is based on the minimum for your body weight (50% carbs, 20% protein, 30% fat). Those are the minimums but especially if you are exercising a lot, carbs are a good place to add more calories because they give you immediate energy (there is a delay for protein and fat). Even if your carb category is over the "goal" amount in MFP and you are still under your daily calorie goal (which is hopefully calibrated for maintenance - is that what you are doing now?) then you shouldn't gain weight. That being said, everybody's body is different and you have to find the right balance of foods that work for your body and give you the energy you need. Normal individuals (average or less than average activity) need 4-5g/kg bodyweight of Carbs per day (carbs are sugar). If you're exercising a lot (4-5 times per week) you may need between 5-10g/kg bodyweight per week but if you are exercising your overall calorie expenditure goes up so as long as you are taking in approximately 50% of your calories in carbohydrates, that is the recommendation. More exercise = more allowance for sugar (=carbs). And as long as you are within your calorie limit and want to put your carbs up to 60% or whatever you will be ok.

The sugars in flavored yogurt are by and large not from lactose but from the additives for flavor. Other than that. natural sugars are fine.

Lactose is by definition is a sugar. Unless additives for flavour contain sucrose, glucose, galactose, fructose or lactose, they do not contain sugar. The sugar in yogurt is mostly made up of lactose but sometimes they add sugar (sucrose) so just check the packaging.

Come on people. I can't beleive so many of you are ignorant on the subject of sugars. As far as the body is concerned, all sugars are the same (ish!)

Firstly, forget all the "but it's natural" ****e. Arsenic, cyanide and even radiation are 'natural'.

Now, onto sugars... No not all sugars are created Equal. (Hah! Sweetener pun!)
Sugar (i.e. sucrose i.e. cane or beet sugar) is half glucose and half fructose.
Fructose is the 'sugar' we find in fruit.

Fructose, while packaged in the fibre and vitamin wrapper we call fruit - is in fact, even worse for us than regular sugar, as the body can't handle it well. In fact, it's treated like a toxin and goes straight to the liver (just like alcohol!)

Neither sugar or fructose are good ways to work up to your calorie intake as they drive up insulin and cause you to store fat (among other things). Calories from vegetables, meat, fish, fat and good oils don't do this. That's why a person on 2,000 calories per day of meat, veg and even lard will be far healthier (and less obese!) than someone on 2,000 calories of milk-duds and fruit.

As for the "I need to consume dairy as I need my calcium" this is bunk.
Eat dairy if you like, but for millions of years we never consumed dairy and we were never calcium deficient. Eat meat, fish and green veg and you'll not be calcium deficient either. And perhaps take some magnesium. It helps you sleep, helps prevent cramps and most people who say they're calcium deficient are IN FACT magnesium deficient. The more magnesium we have, the less calcium we need. Nice huh?

In the end it's just numbers???
It's biology my friend, and chemistry, and cross reactions, and hormone activity - not numbers!
The body does VERY different things with the calories it consumes depending on what form those calories take and what they're partnered with.

By your logic I could exist on 2,000 calories per day of ice-cream - or vodka!

Calories DO NOT COUNT AS MUCH as we like to think. It's what the body DOES WITH THOSE CALORIES that's important.

Eating 2,000 calories of vegetables in a day and you'll get carbs, fibre and a few nutrients.
Eat 2,000 calories of vegetables AND fat (say olive oil) and you'll get the carbs and fibre from the vegetables PLUS LOADS OF NUTRIENTS. Why? Because most nutrients in vegetables are FAT SOLUBLE and are basically unavailable to us unless we consume them with fats. (Yes, THAT'S WHY Italians pour olive oil over their salads). And don't forget that saturated fat IS an essential nutrient (your brain is almost all saturated fat and cholesterol) while there is NO such thing as an essential carbohydrate.
(Any scientist, even the vegan ones, will tell you this).

Stop thinking TOO much about calories and start think about nutrients.
Cheers, BW
(If you're curious, my calorie ratio is around 40/40/20 (protein/fat/carb) but soon it'll be 40/50/10!)

Just an FYI, dairy isn't the only source of calcium. Dark leafy greens, almonds, white beans and fortified non-dairy milks and cereals are all great sources of calcium that don't come from dairy.