Sugar Intake

katorihanzo
katorihanzo Posts: 234 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi,

I know someone else on here posted a similar question recently but mine is a little different.

I've noticed my sugar intake is nearly ALWAYS over my macro of 26 g a day. It's usually between 50-70. At first I didn't pay too much attention because I know that some of the macros are not accurate anyway, both because of MFP's settings and the fact that I don't always add my own foods so I'm depending on someone else's add to be accurate which it isn't always.

However, I did some research and indeed, 26g is the maximum daily intake for a female. Is this just added sugars? Because MFP definitely tracks sugar in fruit as well.

I don't eat super sweet food, I don't really have a sweet tooth (though yesterday is a bad example, I saved calories for a PEP bar which I never do). Most of my sugar seems to be coming from breakfast cereals like oatmeal and cheerios and the rest from fruit.

I'm not really asking what foods I can eat to eat less sugar (that seems obvious to me, make my own real oatmeal instead of the quaker stuff) but do all of you try to stick to the 26g of sugar? Do you give a little leeway for fruit sugars? And is it really THAT bad to eat more sugar if it's coming from generally healthy things (again not counting the PEP bar or this orange julius smoothie I've decided to try later today, I normally don't eat straight-up sweets)?

Replies

  • kimtab
    kimtab Posts: 64 Member
    Tagging to see replies because I have the very same issue. I feel like my diet is quite reasonable and I eat very few processed foods and still exceed the sugar allowance by at least double. I haven't worried about it since I am losing weight but I have wondered.
  • wertgirlfor
    wertgirlfor Posts: 161 Member
    I was wondering that, too. I'm new to MFP so I'm trying to follow their intake guide and logging all my food, but I feel like I can't eat anything without going over my sugar requirement :/
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    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
  • willdob3
    willdob3 Posts: 640 Member
    It is for ALL sugars, including fruit.

    Many on MFP choose not to count natural sugars in fruit but that is a tweak to the MFP plan. Many mistakenly think the only reason to limit fruit is if one has a medical problem.

    Can people lose fat eating fruit? Yes, sometimes. Can people lose better & faster with limited fruit? Yes, sometimes. It all depends on the person. If you are getting great results going over on the sugar, keep doing it. If you are not happy with your results try sticking to the limits given & see if that makes a difference.
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
    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

    Sucrose is made up of a fructose chain AND a glucose chain so you're getting glucose

    Most fructose that you will consume is found with an almost equal amount of glucose

    Please read this before you continue scaring people about fructose...

    http://www.alanaragonblog.com/2010/01/29/the-bitter-truth-about-fructose-alarmism/
  • jjinteso
    jjinteso Posts: 2,060 Member
    I started really looking at sugars last month. I started taking in more unsaturated fat and less sugar. I try to stay below 29 per day and can do that on most days. It is a challenge and I study every carton before I buy it. Many things you would not suspect have sugar. Even milk (at least in the USA) has 12 g. of sugar per 8 oz cup. It doesn't matter if it is low fat, skim or whole milk either.

    You can view my diary if you want some ideas....
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
    I started really looking at sugars last month. I started taking in more unsaturated fat and less sugar. I try to stay below 29 per day and can do that on most days. It is a challenge and I study every carton before I buy it. Many things you would not suspect have sugar. Even milk (at least in the USA) has 12 g. of sugar per 8 oz cup. It doesn't matter if it is low fat, skim or whole milk either.

    You can view my diary if you want some ideas....

    There is nothing wrong with saturated fat...

    There is no reason to limit sugar intake as long as you are hitting macro and micronutrient goals by the end of the day, and you don't have a medical reason to avoid sugar...
  • katorihanzo
    katorihanzo Posts: 234 Member
    I started really looking at sugars last month. I started taking in more unsaturated fat and less sugar. I try to stay below 29 per day and can do that on most days. It is a challenge and I study every carton before I buy it. Many things you would not suspect have sugar. Even milk (at least in the USA) has 12 g. of sugar per 8 oz cup. It doesn't matter if it is low fat, skim or whole milk either.

    You can view my diary if you want some ideas....

    There is nothing wrong with saturated fat...

    There is no reason to limit sugar intake as long as you are hitting macro and micronutrient goals by the end of the day, and you don't have a medical reason to avoid sugar...


    But I'm going over my sugar macro which is why I was concerned.

    Thanks, everyone. I'm losing weight relatively steadily and easily with the amount of sugar I'm eating (someone mentioned milk - this is definitely a contributing factor to my sugar intake as I enjoy a glass straight and on my cereal and cream in coffee and certain teas).

    I guess the jist is don't worry too much about going over the macro as long as you stay at a deficit calorie-wise, but don't over do it either (not too hard for me).
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
    I started really looking at sugars last month. I started taking in more unsaturated fat and less sugar. I try to stay below 29 per day and can do that on most days. It is a challenge and I study every carton before I buy it. Many things you would not suspect have sugar. Even milk (at least in the USA) has 12 g. of sugar per 8 oz cup. It doesn't matter if it is low fat, skim or whole milk either.

    You can view my diary if you want some ideas....

    There is nothing wrong with saturated fat...

    There is no reason to limit sugar intake as long as you are hitting macro and micronutrient goals by the end of the day, and you don't have a medical reason to avoid sugar...


    But I'm going over my sugar macro which is why I was concerned.

    Thanks, everyone. I'm losing weight relatively steadily and easily with the amount of sugar I'm eating (someone mentioned milk - this is definitely a contributing factor to my sugar intake as I enjoy a glass straight and on my cereal and cream in coffee and certain teas).

    I guess the jist is don't worry too much about going over the macro as long as you stay at a deficit calorie-wise, but don't over do it either (not too hard for me).

    Sugar isn't a macronutrient, carbohydrates are a macronutrient, sugar is a subcategory of carbohydrates. The sugar goal set by MFP is ridiculously low, I'm suprised at anybody out there that eats fruits and vegetables and a normal diet and doesn't exceed the measly 20 something grams of sugar goal that MFP and the USDA sets.

    It is important to hit proper macronutrient(protein, fat, carbs) intakes, and micronutrient(vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, etc) intakes, fiber intake, and to hit your calorie goal, and as long as all of those are being met, you can get as much of your carbohydrates from sugar as you'd like, don't be concerned with exceeding the preset ridiculous sugar goal. I have my sugar goal set at 100g...
  • kimtab
    kimtab Posts: 64 Member

    Sugar isn't a macronutrient, carbohydrates are a macronutrient, sugar is a subcategory of carbohydrates. The sugar goal set by MFP is ridiculously low, I'm suprised at anybody out there that eats fruits and vegetables and a normal diet and doesn't exceed the measly 20 something grams of sugar goal that MFP and the USDA sets.

    It is important to hit proper macronutrient(protein, fat, carbs) intakes, and micronutrient(vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, etc) intakes, fiber intake, and to hit your calorie goal, and as long as all of those are being met, you can get as much of your carbohydrates from sugar as you'd like, don't be concerned with exceeding the preset ridiculous sugar goal. I have my sugar goal set at 100g...

    Thanks for this, very helpful. I think I'm going to take the sugar numbers off my diary and replace it with fiber or something else instead.
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member

    Sugar isn't a macronutrient, carbohydrates are a macronutrient, sugar is a subcategory of carbohydrates. The sugar goal set by MFP is ridiculously low, I'm suprised at anybody out there that eats fruits and vegetables and a normal diet and doesn't exceed the measly 20 something grams of sugar goal that MFP and the USDA sets.

    It is important to hit proper macronutrient(protein, fat, carbs) intakes, and micronutrient(vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, etc) intakes, fiber intake, and to hit your calorie goal, and as long as all of those are being met, you can get as much of your carbohydrates from sugar as you'd like, don't be concerned with exceeding the preset ridiculous sugar goal. I have my sugar goal set at 100g...

    Thanks for this, very helpful. I think I'm going to take the sugar numbers off my diary and replace it with fiber or something else instead.

    Smart idea, it's much much much more important that you hit your fiber goal, than it is that you don't exceed the ridiculous sugar ceiling
  • katorihanzo
    katorihanzo Posts: 234 Member

    Sugar isn't a macronutrient, carbohydrates are a macronutrient, sugar is a subcategory of carbohydrates. The sugar goal set by MFP is ridiculously low, I'm suprised at anybody out there that eats fruits and vegetables and a normal diet and doesn't exceed the measly 20 something grams of sugar goal that MFP and the USDA sets.

    It is important to hit proper macronutrient(protein, fat, carbs) intakes, and micronutrient(vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, etc) intakes, fiber intake, and to hit your calorie goal, and as long as all of those are being met, you can get as much of your carbohydrates from sugar as you'd like, don't be concerned with exceeding the preset ridiculous sugar goal. I have my sugar goal set at 100g...

    Thanks for this, very helpful. I think I'm going to take the sugar numbers off my diary and replace it with fiber or something else instead.

    Smart idea, it's much much much more important that you hit your fiber goal, than it is that you don't exceed the ridiculous sugar ceiling

    Great, that sounds good. I'm definitely going to replace sugar with fibre too, as that is something I'm much more concerned about. Thanks for clearing that up!
  • katorihanzo
    katorihanzo Posts: 234 Member
    P.S. for anyone interested in consuming enough fibre (hopefully everyone) who thinks Quaker oatmeal is a good choice for a fibrous breakfast (I had my suspicions but went with it anyway) it was revealed a few months ago that those packets actually contain very little fibre (at least compared to most oatmeal) and so they released a new "high fibre" line which only comes in raisins and spice flavour (delicious). More fibre, same amount of ease.

    NOTE** I'm Canadian. We spell fibre weird. Also, flavour.
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
    2mi3l8k.gif
  • katorihanzo
    katorihanzo Posts: 234 Member
    Yeah, we Canadians have got moves.
  • RideaYeti
    RideaYeti Posts: 211 Member
    Check out this video. Very interesting information on how sugar may be the main culprit in the obesity epidemic. Too much sugar can and does have a negative effect on the body. Even too much "natural" sugar from fruit. I really like how they mention the whole "calories in vs. calories out" thought process is wrong. It is more about the type of calories you are putting in. Especially since there are hidden sugars in a ton of stuff you wouldn't think about.

    http://www.dietdoctor.com/fantastic-new-tv-program-on-obesity-toxic-sugar
  • Diligent1a
    Diligent1a Posts: 19 Member
    Been wondering about the same thing, I am pretty much in control of everything else but exceed the sugar limit every day. I seem to be losing not due for first weigh in yet but have sneeked on the scales already!

    It has made me more aware and I have ditched the sugary cereal but I haven't found anything to replace it with yet.

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