Sugar - WTF?

Hi, I think this site is really good but find I'm obsessing about all the percentages. I've just been stressing because I've had no mg of cholesterol and about 300 per cent vitamin c. I've just decided not the get so worked up about it, right now I'm concentrating on losing weight-one step at a time.

Yarwell posted an excellent FAQ on sugar the other day. Definitely worth a read:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1017237-so-what-s-with-this-sugar-then-faq

Food > Settings > Nutrients Tracked > Change Sugar to "None" or another nutrient.

Unless you have existing blood sugar problems, just count sugar as a carb.

This.

Exactly! Do not freak out over good sugar vs bad sugars (refined). Unless required for medical purposes, get rid of it.

This - I track fiber instead for medical issues. I eat one banana and my sugars are done for the day - it's crap. Unless you are diabetic or have a reason to track sugars, don't track. MFP doesn't differentiate between natural sugar and processed sugars.

I look at the sugars because I'm curious about it, but I also take into account how much added sugar I eat in comparison with natural sugars like in fruit

I would only enable the ones you see as a problem for you personally. I struggle to eat enough fiber, and I get migraines with too much sodium, so I have enabled those and pretty well just discount all the rest of them.

Sugar is just a carb. As long as you're eating enough fats and protein, your carbs/sugar aren't particularly important unless you have a medical issue that requires carbs/sugar to be monitored.

However, it should be noted that fructose and sucrose can only be stored as liver glycogen and not muscle glycogen. The liver can hold 100-120g glycogen so anything more than that will be converted to triglycerides. As long as you still have a calorie deficit this will even out. Just try to make most of your carbs glucose and not sucrose or fructose. Fructose in particular has been shown to decrease exercise performance, increased likelihood of gastrointestinal distress, and increase perception of exertion.

Here are some studies:
http://www.setantacollege.com/wp-content/uploads/Journal_db/the effects of glucose....pdf

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3592616


As long as you're under your calorie goal, you'll lose weight. Some people find that sugar (even from fruit) causes them to have more sugar/carb cravings so keep that in mind.

For information on setting your macro target, read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/911011-calculating-calorie-macronutrient-needs?page=1#posts-13821336