Sugar

Unless you have a medical reason you really don't need to worry about sugar. Any kind, it's not evil and quite delicious.

+1

I was over it today too. And proteins. -sniff-

Bob said to take my weight and divide it by two, and that's how many grams of protein a day I should be getting. So about twice as much as MFP is allowing me. Heehee.

Good to see I don't have to stress too much from sugar.

you need to remember that people here arent real doctors...

sugar goes straight to my hips. i lose more when i keep my sugar low. lost the most when i cut it all together. sugar is not the same carbs as potatoes or rice.

Medical reasons aside, there's not a good reason for most people to track sugar. Go into settings and track something else instead. I hear your bones are voting for calcium.

Sorry to be the minority vote here, but sugars in excess can be very bad for you!

That said, look at your carbs more than the content of sugar within them, is a fair statement - and in regards to that, the amount of sugar that is normally in your blood is about a tablespoon, 300gr of carbs (FDA recommendation for a 2000 calorie diet) translates to a cup and half of sugar a day... that leaves the body a heck of a lot of sugar to deal with each day...

In regards to the difference between the various forms of sugar/carbs, I would look at their glycemic index, or glycemic load - as that will tell you how much they spike your blood sugar (and therefore how much insulin will be needed by your body to handle it) - and in your case the good news is that most fruit, have relatively low glycemic index (and some also have high fiber content) - almost all of them have a lower glycemic index than sugar (unlike for example whole wheat bread, that has a higher GI than suger!!!).

The reason you would want to pay attention to glycemic index/load is that the higher the GI, the more insulin the pancreas will release.
Insulin has two major roles in the body, it diverts sugars to your cells be it muscle, brain, fat cells, etc., as an energy source, or storage (in case of fat), BUT it also prevents fat cells from releasing the energy that is stored within them, so by effect, it contributes directly to getting fat (feeding the fat cells, and preventing them from releasing their content to be consumed by the body).

Personally, I limit my carbs to 20% of my intake (so 100gr a day, on a 2000 calorie diet).

Here's some reading for you if you're interested. I agree with just tracking carbs. I eat quite a bit of sugar, both natural and added. It hasn't hurt my progress.

www.ajcn.org/content/65/4/908.full.pdf

Results showed that a high sucrose content in a hypoenergetic, low-fat diet did not adversely affect weight loss, metabolism, plasma lipids, or emotional affect.

http://www.simplyshredded.com/the-science-of-nutrition-is-a-carb-a-carb.html

http://www.alanaragonblog.com/2010/01/29/the-bitter-truth-about-fructose-alarmism/

Natural or added, my body doesn’t like sugar very much! I just have bad genes, I guess! :sad:

My weight loss is painfully slow but when I add even the smallest amounts of sugar during the week, it stops my weight loss dead-cold!

Everyone is different but if you start to struggle in your weigh loss progression, you may want to revisit the “sugar” issue. Looping in your doctor should you need to revisit is always a good idea!

And as always, this is just my opinion based on my own struggle.

Thank you for posting this, I was about to ask the same question.
The fruit in my morning smoothie puts me in the red immediately.
It's FRUIT, for goodness sakes! I'm not going to stop having it