Sugar intake for Women

I actually just thought about this yesterday. I work out like crazy and haven't seen results in a little while so I went back over what I have eaten in the past week and I have not been monitoring my sugar intake properly. I'm brain storming strategies to keep it down.

i generally don't pay attention to my sugar... especially since i eat SO much fruit. if you want to watch your sugar intake... pay attention to your processed sugars and try and keep them down.

You can find sugar in lots of foods. I concentrate on keeping my sugar intake low and have virtually eliminated milk from my diet over the past few years. I'm not recommending that anyone else does that. Lactose is a sugar in the body and I stay away because I'm diabetic controlling my diabetes well through diet without any meds. I enjoy yogurt a lot as a snack but I do have preferred brands and try to stay with brands containing lower sugar. You're right, sugar in dairy can add up and we tend not to realize how quickly it does.

Its almost impossible not to exceed 20-25 grams of sugar daily. I thought I was doing a very good job by eating alot of fruits, but my sugar intake for eating a banana and a golden apple, exceeded the recommended daily amount. So , now I am confused about what to replace them with.

I kinda gave up on limiting myself to 20-22 grams of sugar a day. I feel like it's honestly impossible. I think though that the number is meant for added sugars, not necessarily natural sugars. Typically, half the sugar I consume in a day is made up of natural sugars - but I almost always still go over 30 grams of added sugar a day. :P

This was my first thought - they're talking about ADDED sugar. After all, one pear has about 20 grams of Carbohydrate and it surely can't be excessive to eat 1 piece of fruit.

Ive been trying to stay under my 26g a day and doing pretty well. Im confused by this refined/natural sugar thing. Ive done a lil research and have read sugar is sugar, wether natural or refined your body recognizes it the same.

I really don't get what all this fuss about sugar is for. I never, ever look at mine. I just watch my calories, exercise regularly, and enjoy the results. I've never felt better, stronger, or fitter. I did a report on my sugar, and it was pretty much double for every day for the last 6 months. As long as i don't exceed my calories, i really don't see any ill effects

People just seem to want to overcomplicate this...

I'm really happy for those who can do well just watching the calories, but for some of us, it is a bigger deal than for others. I have PCOS and am insulin resistant and so my macronutrient ratios and micronutrient totals really do impact whether I'm successful or not. I can believe that for someone who is healthy with the exception of needing to lose a few pounds, this question is really moot.

I have to edit my post - I went back to American Heart Association information and it is 30g of sugar not 20 g and this does not include the natural sugars in foods consumed. So I guess the amount of sugar I'm consuming is not that bad after all. I will just have to watch the snacks and liquids that I consume that have sugar in them. Hope I didn't confuse anyone.

Whew! I'm glad! I try to cut out sugar as much as possible but I sure wasn't going cut out fruit because of its natural sugar.

I was just goggling this.....lowering sugar helps w/insulin spikes and so its good to always eat sugars w/a protein. And stick to healthy sugars such as fruits and not processed sugar such as raw sugar, candy, soda, etc. We can't avoid sugar, but we can help it work for us. Cutting back on high sugary dressings on salads, etc. I use unsweetened Almond Vanilla or Chocolate Milk for my protein shakes and most recipes.

This is a lifestyle change...so have fun and do the best you can. On average my sugar is between 20-30, if I have some ice cream or something, it is much higher, but I try to limit my 'splurge' meals to once a week and have fun so I don't binge.

Happy Journey, Shan

Great artcile I found: http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/HealthyDietGoals/Sugars-and-Carbohydrates_UCM_303296_Article.jsp

If you are making good food choices & seeing results I would not worry about going a little over. And if you add your exercise the sugar grams go up & that should help. If you indulge in treats on occasion that will put you over, too, but I don't think it is a problem unless you are going over because of eating lots of junk on a daily basis. If you do that you'll be way over on lots of things.

If you eat much fruit &/or starchy carbs it is going to be difficult to stay under the suggested limits without some extra work. You can look for lower sugar fruits & carbs if you really want to stay under on the sugar.

Eliminating processed foods will lower your sugar. Low/no fat products generally have higher sugar than full fat ones. Read labels.

I know there are some specific diet plans that focus on how to keep sugar grams low but I have not followed one. I think they also spread sugar grams out evenly over all meals.

I don't need to worry about going over my sugar grams and I have customized my goal to 15g sugar per day. I never come close. I eat no processed foods or grains (have food sensitivities) and stick to veggies for most of my carbs. Even adding a couple small servings of lower sugar & healthy fruit would put me over that. Getting the quality of fruit (no pesticides, etc) I require is a bit tough on my budget right now so fruit has been infrequent. When my budget allows i will most likely add fruit back in more often & allow more sugar grams.

the last comment is absolutely true. No added processed sugars, whether from dairy or boxed food or candy. The intake of fruit should be limited to about 3 servings a day. Stay away from the tropical fruit with higher sugars and stick with dark berries and high fiber like an apple or pear. Fruit sugar is automatically used as fuel for energy. You can have approx 40 naturally ocurring sugars a day, especially if you exercise. I would eat it BEFORE the wok out so the glucose levels go up and converts it to energy quickly to give you stamina. This is the only way to reduce belly fat. Gluten free, dairy free, soy free, sugar free. Cravings will subside, belly fat will reduce and your mind and joints will feel amazing. If you HAVE to use sugar, use stevia or natural cane sugar, straight from the source. In addition, your muscles will begin to show through, if you are strength training. Try to eat way more greens and veggies than fruits per day. high fiber, low sugar. Good luck!