Sugar? way over my limit but a bit confused

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littlelady8974
littlelady8974 Posts: 6
in Food and Nutrition
Ok so as normal I log my breakfast and lunch now.. that way I know it's done and I don't want to log on again til this eve for dinner!
Anyway, I am WAY over my sugar! like it says -38!!
Ive logged all healthy stuff so am a bit lost on how to reduce this.. I like the food I have logged and its all healthy..

Porridge
Cous cous, boiled egg, cucumber, pepper, pitta bread
2 apples, 1 orange

Can someone help me or explain how I can reduce this.. do you manage to in keep with the sugar limit?

Replies

  • DatMurse
    DatMurse Posts: 1,501 Member
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    Ok so as normal I log my breakfast and lunch now.. that way I know it's done and I don't want to log on again til this eve for dinner!
    Anyway, I am WAY over my sugar! like it says -38!!
    Ive logged all healthy stuff so am a bit lost on how to reduce this.. I like the food I have logged and its all healthy..

    Porridge
    Cous cous, boiled egg, cucumber, pepper, pitta bread
    2 apples, 1 orange

    Can someone help me or explain how I can reduce this.. do you manage to in keep with the sugar limit?

    sugar doesnt matter unless you are diabetic. if you are hypocaloric I wouldnt worry
  • janimei
    janimei Posts: 105 Member
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    One medium apple is 19 carbs. Fruit is high in sugar/carborhydrates. I'm not sure what the glycemic load is for various fruits, but I allow myself at least one fruit per day even if it takes my sugar total over the desired amount--it's full of fiber, vitamins, etc. Even though fruit will take you over the sugar limit easily, if you look over at your carb limit, you might find you are not over on that limit. My diabetic cookbook doesn't even list sugar values, just carb values.
    A good rule is to always have protein when you have carbs; it slows digestion and absorption of carbs and thus helps lessen sugar spikes, at least that's what I've read in my diabetes books.
  • snowboardandasuitcase
    snowboardandasuitcase Posts: 217 Member
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    please search for previous posts... there's sooooooo much info out there already, without needing to create a new thread.

    In short: Healthy sugars (fruits, veggies, etc.) are nothing to worry about if you don't have a health condition. If you eat a lot of processed foods, I'd recommend keeping an eye on it just so you're aware of what's going in your body. there's a lot about "sugar is sugar, no matter where it comes from" but to each their own.

    Don't worry about it if you don't have a health condition that requires sugar monitoring.
  • Cait_Sidhe
    Cait_Sidhe Posts: 3,150 Member
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    I don't pay any attention to sugar. Even if you're a diabetic, it's already included in carbs. There's no reason to double count it.
  • mazdauk
    mazdauk Posts: 1,380 Member
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    MFP doesn't differentiate between inherent sugars in fruit and milk and added sugars (such as in chocolate, biscuits etc.) Unless you're diabetic or have another issue with sugar so you need to monitor it, you can adjust your macros so sugar doesn't show up - I did this as I was fed up with being shown over sugar after 2 pieces of fruit!
  • mperrott2205
    mperrott2205 Posts: 737 Member
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    Sugar from clean eating isn't bad for you.
  • DatMurse
    DatMurse Posts: 1,501 Member
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    ....

    sugar in general isn't bad. the insulin spikes are overrated.

    please stop
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,287 Member
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    well hidden sugar in processed and packaged foods is something to be aware about. that is why most of america is waddling around.
  • Melampus
    Melampus Posts: 95 Member
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    Given what you said you had for breakfast I am guessing that sugar total come from lactose in milk (added to the porridge, maybe) and fructose in the fruit. MFP does not seem to distinuish between these naturally occurring sugars and added sugar. I don't think you will see an adervse effect from what you have eaten.
    sugar in general isn't bad. the insulin spikes are overrated.

    I think it all depends on the size of the spike. If you were to eat, at one sitting, a whole box of the fancy chocolates - 20 to 25 chocolates, i.e. about 1,500 calories worth and I can pretty much guarantee you would be aware of something going on

    For there does seem to be a critical amount of sugar above which I start to crave more of it but it is certainly higher than the default MFP recommended amount, which I often fail to comply with. I do find if I eat one of the higher sugar breakfast cereals I end up hungry before lunch time which does not happen if I have, for example, porridge (with milk) and either with of without fruit.
  • DatMurse
    DatMurse Posts: 1,501 Member
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    sugar in general isn't bad. the insulin spikes are overrated.

    I think it all depends on the size of the spike. I don't think you will see an adervse effect from eating a piece of fruit or two. If you were to eat, at one sitting, a whole box of the fancy chocolates - 20 to 25 chocolates, i.e. about 1,500 calories worth and I can pretty much guarantee you would be aware of something going on

    For there does seem to be a critical amount of sugar above which I start to crave more of it but it is certainly higher than the default MFP recommended amount, which I find hard to comply with, and I do find if I eat one of the higher sugar breakfast cereals I end up hungry before lunch time which does not happen if I have, for example, porridge.
    If you consumed 1500 calories worth of sugar that is your problem. Anything in that high of excess is bad.

    I just ate 60g of sugar just now. Is anything going to happen? no.

    Do I want to eat more? no. I am stuffed.

    What adverse affect are you talking about?
  • DatMurse
    DatMurse Posts: 1,501 Member
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    Unless your sugar intake is from cookies, donuts, cake & chocolate I really think you're ok!


    how does that differ from sugar from fruit?

    can you tell me how it is different chemically?
  • m0jk
    m0jk Posts: 133
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    Ok so as normal I log my breakfast and lunch now.. that way I know it's done and I don't want to log on again til this eve for dinner!
    Anyway, I am WAY over my sugar! like it says -38!!
    Ive logged all healthy stuff so am a bit lost on how to reduce this.. I like the food I have logged and its all healthy..

    Porridge
    Cous cous, boiled egg, cucumber, pepper, pitta bread
    2 apples, 1 orange

    Can someone help me or explain how I can reduce this.. do you manage to in keep with the sugar limit?

    sugar doesnt matter unless you are diabetic. if you are hypocaloric I wouldnt worry


    thats good to know, im on 1200 cals a day diet and havent added 5 fruit/veg to reach my cals the past few days because if i eat 1 large banana im way over my sugar from just healthy meals. so should i ignore the sugar then????
  • Melampus
    Melampus Posts: 95 Member
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    What adverse affect are you talking about?

    The main effect of eating sugar seems to be feeling temporarily energised and then subsequently very hungry and in particular craving more sweet food rather than balanced, nutritious food. I have not experimented to see exactly how much sugar I would have to eat at one sitting to get to the point this is noticable but it is certainly noticable for me at 50g. On the other hand eating 60-80g spread out through the day does not have the same effect for me. Furthermore responding to the temporary feeling of being energised with some kind of physical activity, even if it s just taking the dog for a walk, seems to avoid the later craving.

    At the "whole box of chocolates" level, i.e. 120g a very noticable "buzz", slight light headedness, slight headache.
  • Melampus
    Melampus Posts: 95 Member
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    Unless your sugar intake is from cookies, donuts, cake & chocolate I really think you're ok!


    how does that differ from sugar from fruit?

    can you tell me how it is different chemically?

    Chemically, it all depends on what they have added to the cookies, donuts, cake & chocolate. The sugar in fruit is fructose. The sugar sold as such is generally sucrose the molecules of which are one molecule of fructose colvalently bonded to one molecule of glucose. Sucrose is added as a sweetner to food as are high fructose corn syrup and crystalline fructose.

    The big difference though, surely, is that the fruit contains more than sugar. It will have water, fibre, vitamins etc. and while fruit is sweet as natural foods go it is nowhere near the calorie or sugar density of food such as chocolate. If you're trying to avoid eating more calories than you need you should obviously prefer foods that contain other nutrients rather than just calories and also foods that are likely to make you feel full with a modest number of calories.
  • littlelady8974
    littlelady8974 Posts: 6
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    Thanks everyone! I just wanted to check :)
  • DatMurse
    DatMurse Posts: 1,501 Member
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    Unless your sugar intake is from cookies, donuts, cake & chocolate I really think you're ok!


    how does that differ from sugar from fruit?

    can you tell me how it is different chemically?

    Chemically, it all depends on what they have added to the cookies, donuts, cake & chocolate. The sugar in fruit is fructose. The sugar sold as such is generally sucrose the molecules of which are one molecule of fructose colvalently bonded to one molecule of glucose. Sucrose is added as a sweetner to food as are high fructose corn syrup and crystalline fructose.

    The big difference though, surely, is that the fruit contains more than sugar. It will have water, fibre, vitamins etc. and while fruit is sweet as natural foods go it is nowhere near the calorie or sugar density of food such as chocolate. If you're trying to avoid eating more calories than you need you should obviously prefer foods that contain other nutrients rather than just calories and also foods that are likely to make you feel full with a modest number of calories.

    Chemically they both still have sucrose and fructose. didn't talk about the rest of the composition.

    either way 10g of sugar from fruit wont show much of a difference than 10g of sugar from candy.




    back to your 50g of sugar, many people will experience a sugar crash and that is fairly expected. However the insulin spikes play a little role in regards to fat loss. if you crave more sweet foods that is your problem. We know the laws of energy balance and if someone doesn't have the discipline to fight the craving, then they shouldn't eat it.


    avoid eating more calories?
    If I want to avoid eating more calories I will avoid putting more calories through my system
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    Unless your sugar intake is from cookies, donuts, cake & chocolate I really think you're ok!


    how does that differ from sugar from fruit?

    can you tell me how it is different chemically?

    Chemically, it all depends on what they have added to the cookies, donuts, cake & chocolate. The sugar in fruit is fructose. The sugar sold as such is generally sucrose the molecules of which are one molecule of fructose colvalently bonded to one molecule of glucose. Sucrose is added as a sweetner to food as are high fructose corn syrup and crystalline fructose.

    The big difference though, surely, is that the fruit contains more than sugar. It will have water, fibre, vitamins etc. and while fruit is sweet as natural foods go it is nowhere near the calorie or sugar density of food such as chocolate. If you're trying to avoid eating more calories than you need you should obviously prefer foods that contain other nutrients rather than just calories and also foods that are likely to make you feel full with a modest number of calories.
    Incorrect. Fructose is only one type of sugar in fruit. Most fruits also contain large amounts (percentagewise) of glucose, sucrose, maltose, galactose, and any other of several thousand types of sugars.

    MFP doesn't differentiate between added sugars and naturally occurring sugars because your body doesn't either. Sucrose from an apple, or sucrose from a cookie, they both get cleaved into glucose and fructose by sucrase, and then absorbed by the intestine.The ONLY difference is in the micronutrient content of an apple vs a cookie, but if you're eating a well balanced diet, individual foods are completely irrelevant on their own.
  • mrmagee3
    mrmagee3 Posts: 518 Member
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    Chemically, it all depends on what they have added to the cookies, donuts, cake & chocolate. The sugar in fruit is fructose. The sugar sold as such is generally sucrose the molecules of which are one molecule of fructose colvalently bonded to one molecule of glucose. Sucrose is added as a sweetner to food as are high fructose corn syrup and crystalline fructose.

    The big difference though, surely, is that the fruit contains more than sugar. It will have water, fibre, vitamins etc. and while fruit is sweet as natural foods go it is nowhere near the calorie or sugar density of food such as chocolate. If you're trying to avoid eating more calories than you need you should obviously prefer foods that contain other nutrients rather than just calories and also foods that are likely to make you feel full with a modest number of calories.
    Incorrect. Fructose is only one type of sugar in fruit. Most fruits also contain large amounts (percentagewise) of glucose, sucrose, maltose, galactose, and any other of several thousand types of sugars.

    MFP doesn't differentiate between added sugars and naturally occurring sugars because your body doesn't either. Sucrose from an apple, or sucrose from a cookie, they both get cleaved into glucose and fructose by sucrase, and then absorbed by the intestine.The ONLY difference is in the micronutrient content of an apple vs a cookie, but if you're eating a well balanced diet, individual foods are completely irrelevant on their own.

    I agree with this. Though one thing I see frequently here is that you don't have to worry about fruit unless you're diabetic. I'm going to disagree with that to an extent. Obviously, you have to worry *more* about fruit when you're diabetic. But if you're obese, there are very often underlying conditions (such as insulin resistance, hypertriglyceridemia, etc.) that would push one towards monitoring sugar intake from all sources, not simply "processed" sugars.
  • murdledoe
    murdledoe Posts: 98 Member
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    It looks as though you are getting your sugar from healthy foods. I wouldn't give up the fruit or worry about it unless you are diabetic.

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