Anyone know why the MFP diary is so strict on sugar?

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Eleanorshak
Eleanorshak Posts: 9 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi there everyone,

I'm enjoying this site and finding it very useful. I find I come in just under my calorie allowance every day and about right for proteins, fats and carbs. But....sugar? Today, half a sweet potato, a spoonful of soy sauce and a glass of wine means I've taken in too much sugar as far as MFP's concerned. And yesterday the only faintly sweet things I had were two snacks - an apple and a banana. Too much sugar. I haven't touched any actual sugar - no sweets, cakes, cookies or plain old sugar - for a week, and my glass of wine today was the only alcohol I've had. But I come in as having to much sugar every day. I'm not taking much notice of it to be honest! But is there some info anywhere here about why they've decided on such strict sugar limits?

Good luck to all,

ES.
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Replies

  • lstroth1
    lstroth1 Posts: 80 Member
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    I am always over too on sugar and under calories. I was wondering about that so it will be interesting to hear the answers.
  • 43932452
    43932452 Posts: 7,246 Member
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    I choose to ignore the sugar macro. Instead I watch my carbs. A lot of healthy foods contain major sugar
    and it gets frustrating to watch that .. Besides a lot of sugar is easily burnt if exercising and if eating fruit/
    veggies, there is fiber included. idk .. I'm no nutritionist but I agree MFP is strict on this one.
  • MysteriousMerlin
    MysteriousMerlin Posts: 2,270 Member
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    I don't have mine showing it. I follow calories, sodium & carbs. It's just a guideline, adjust it to your needs when necessary. :)
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,134 Member
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    Unless you have a medical issue with sugar, you can probably ignore it.
  • carolinehowells
    carolinehowells Posts: 26 Member
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    I was thinking the same thing as I'm eating pretty healthily but always over on sugar too.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    Because it's a dumb calculator. It calculates sugar as 10% of your carb goal, I believe. It's also a waste of time to track, as sugar is just a carb, and carbs are already tracked. There's zero need to track it twice, or pay any attention to it.
  • TheVimFuego
    TheVimFuego Posts: 2,412 Member
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    Because it's a dumb calculator. It calculates sugar as 10% of your carb goal, I believe. It's also a waste of time to track, as sugar is just a carb, and carbs are already tracked. There's zero need to track it twice, or pay any attention to it.

    Yep, ain't that The Bitter Truth. ;)
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    http://instantrimshot.com
  • anaconda469
    anaconda469 Posts: 3,461 Member
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    Because it's a dumb calculator. It calculates sugar as 10% of your carb goal, I believe. It's also a waste of time to track, as sugar is just a carb, and carbs are already tracked. There's zero need to track it twice, or pay any attention to it.

    Agreed :bigsmile:
  • karen_golfs
    karen_golfs Posts: 377 Member
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    I don't track sugar either - no point!
  • AlabasterVerve
    AlabasterVerve Posts: 3,171 Member
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    The MFP sugar is the limit for added sugar and not total sugar. The World Health Organization says that about 10% of your total calories accounts for the naturally occurring sugars in fruits, vegetables, dairy and the like. And the American Heart Association recommends women not to exceed 6 teaspoons of added sugar a day which is 24 grams.

    So if you eat 1,600 calories a day a reasonable amount of sugar from all sources would be 65 grams (160 + 100 = 260 ÷ 4 = 65).

    You can change your sugar limit to a number that seems reasonable to you or if you don't think sugar is a cause for concern at all simply ignore it or track something else so you don't have to see it. Yarwell wrote up an excellent sugar FAQ that explains the sugar limit and how to make changes to your limit: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1017237-so-what-s-with-this-sugar-then-faq
  • GGDaddy
    GGDaddy Posts: 289 Member
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    Many people (myself included) just ignore it completely. I've changed my tracker to measure fiber instead, don't even look at sugar...
  • KingCharlesTheFat
    KingCharlesTheFat Posts: 10
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    The MFP sugar is the limit for added sugar and not total sugar. The World Health Organization says that about 10% of your total calories accounts for the naturally occurring sugars in fruits, vegetables, dairy and the like. And the American Heart Association recommends women not to exceed 6 teaspoons of added sugar a day which is 24 grams.

    So if you eat 1,600 calories a day a reasonable amount of sugar from all sources would be 65 grams (160 + 100 = 260 ÷ 4 = 65).
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1017237-so-what-s-with-this-sugar-then-faq

    This is the exact reason why they track sugar as 10%. Granted, I am at breakfast and already 13g over my sugar which is why I found this thread. I would argue that you should do your best to follow the sugar guidelines--even if you fail every dayum time. Here is why:

    1) Other studies show that "Excess fructose consumption is a major contributor to insulin resistance and obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, liver disease, cancer, arthritis, and other diseases".

    2) For some people too much sugar causes inflammation.

    3) it will make you aware of the amount of processed sugar in your diet. Sugar is not *just* sugar. Any sugar you ingest should be your choice and coming from the source of your choosing. Processed foods cram it in there in ways that seems to defy physics.

    For example, I have made choices to remove a particular granola from my diet because it has 13g of sugar per 45g of food. If I wanted to top my morning cereal with 4 spoonfuls of sugar (1 tsp of sugar = 4g sugar) I would have done it. I will change it for my healthy fruit instead.
  • Debbie_Ferr
    Debbie_Ferr Posts: 582 Member
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    Unless you have a medical issue with sugar, you can probably ignore it.

    This.

    I don't track sugar. It's pointless for me, since I eat mostly healthy whole foods.

    Instead, I track and make sure I consume a lot of FIBER .
    so many benifits of fiber ~ helps lower cholestrol, regulates blood sugar, great for your GI track (aka moves things along!), and helps you feel full, AND HELP WITH WEIGHT LOSS / WEIGHT MANAGEMENT. yeah!.

    Foods naturally high in fiber include whole-grains, fruits, vegetables, beans, peas, legumes, nuts, and seeds :):)

    http://www.webmd.com/diet/fiber-health-benefits-11/compare-dietary-fibers

    http://www.webmd.com/diet/fiber-health-benefits-11/fiber-weight-control

    http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/fiber/NU00033
  • echofm1
    echofm1 Posts: 471 Member
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    This is the exact reason why they track sugar as 10%. Granted, I am at breakfast and already 13g over my sugar which is why I found this thread. I would argue that you should do your best to follow the sugar guidelines--even if you fail every dayum time. Here is why:

    1) Other studies show that "Excess fructose consumption is a major contributor to insulin resistance and obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, liver disease, cancer, arthritis, and other diseases".

    2) For some people too much sugar causes inflammation.

    3) it will make you aware of the amount of processed sugar in your diet. Sugar is not *just* sugar. Any sugar you ingest should be your choice and coming from the source of your choosing. Processed foods cram it in there in ways that seems to defy physics.

    For example, I have made choices to remove a particular granola from my diet because it has 13g of sugar per 45g of food. If I wanted to top my morning cereal with 4 spoonfuls of sugar (1 tsp of sugar = 4g sugar) I would have done it. I will change it for my healthy fruit instead.

    But the issue is that MFP counts processed sugar and sugar from fruit, dairy, etc as exactly the same. I go over the sugar amount just by the amount of fruit I eat in a day, never mind if I eat yogurt, add milk to my scrambled eggs, or do decide to have that ice cream so deliciously staring at me from the freezer. That's why it can be distressing, because it's so easy to go over even when eating healthy foods.
  • arrseegee
    arrseegee Posts: 575 Member
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    Most people eating a western diet are consuming far more sugar than is required, which is associated with higher rates of obesity. Added sugars add no nutritional value except calories into diets, so a textbook healthy diet shouldn't provide more than 10% (WHO) to 15% (many other countries' nutrition guidelines) of calories from sugar.

    In a typical diet the majority of sugar comes from drinks such as fruit juice or soda, which provide calories but not as much nutrition as if you were to eat naturally-occurring sugar in whole foods, e.g. fruit.

    If you eat a lot of fruit (good) you will consume a lot of sugar (bad)... If this is the case in your diet don't stress about it, but if your sugar is coming from soft drinks or high-sugar snacks then look at whether you are consuming excess amounts of those foods.
  • Thommothebear
    Thommothebear Posts: 25 Member
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    I would not worry about it, I just watch the carbs. I'm diabetic (very well controlled primarily through diet and exercise) and contrary to popular belief sugar (sucrose) is not as much of a problem as starchy carbs (flour etc) and fruit (fructose). the really bad one is High Fructose Corn Syrup which is twice as bad as refined white sugar and is in just about all processed foods because its cheap.
  • arrseegee
    arrseegee Posts: 575 Member
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    Also, you can manually change your nutrition goals - perhaps that is something you could do so you don't get the distressing red numbers every day!
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    Most people eating a western diet are consuming far more sugar than is required, which is associated with higher rates of obesity. Added sugars add no nutritional value except calories into diets, so a textbook healthy diet shouldn't provide more than 10% (WHO) to 15% (many other countries' nutrition guidelines) of calories from sugar.

    In a typical diet the majority of sugar comes from drinks such as fruit juice or soda, which provide calories but not as much nutrition as if you were to eat naturally-occurring sugar in whole foods, e.g. fruit.

    If you eat a lot of fruit (good) you will consume a lot of sugar (bad)... If this is the case in your diet don't stress about it, but if your sugar is coming from soft drinks or high-sugar snacks then look at whether you are consuming excess amounts of those foods.

    LOL at good and bad sugar...

    curious how when sugar is the same at molecular level your body somehow knows the difference between 'good' and 'bad" sugar...labeling foods good and bad is, in my humble opinion, just not that smart...
  • coolraul07
    coolraul07 Posts: 1,606 Member
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    Unless you have a medical issue with sugar, you can probably ignore it.

    This.

    I don't track sugar. It's pointless for me, since I eat mostly healthy whole foods.

    Instead, I track and make sure I consume a lot of FIBER .
    so many benifits of fiber ~ helps lower cholestrol, regulates blood sugar, great for your GI track (aka moves things along!), and helps you feel full, AND HELP WITH WEIGHT LOSS / WEIGHT MANAGEMENT. yeah!.

    Foods naturally high in fiber include whole-grains, fruits, vegetables, beans, peas, legumes, nuts, and seeds :):)

    http://www.webmd.com/diet/fiber-health-benefits-11/compare-dietary-fibers

    http://www.webmd.com/diet/fiber-health-benefits-11/fiber-weight-control

    http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/fiber/NU00033
    ^^THIS

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