how much sugar to consume per day?

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bekdavis
bekdavis Posts: 290 Member
in Food and Nutrition
anyone know what a good number is? I have never counted sugar before. Thanks in advance!
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  • JaimeNay
    JaimeNay Posts: 80 Member
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    I read an article last Friday about losing belly fat, and it said to try to stay around or under 21 grams of sugar a day.
  • bekdavis
    bekdavis Posts: 290 Member
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    an apple has 19 grams of sugar. So, i am a bit confused.
  • Kristyb1010
    Kristyb1010 Posts: 39
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    an apple has 19 grams of sugar. So, i am a bit confused.

    Me too! I want to consume less sugars too, but it's everywhere... all the fruit I love, carrots, protein/fiber bars. etc... Can someone clarify?
  • ultimategar
    ultimategar Posts: 96 Member
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    I'd suggest ignoring the natural sugar content of fruit etc and just avoid adding sugar to your food or eating processed foods with high sugar.
  • WhiteStar2351
    WhiteStar2351 Posts: 87
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    Sugar requirements vary between people - in an ideal world it would be very limited, however - manufacturers know its highly addictive so cram it in to everything they possibly can (even the things you'd least expect!).

    The UK Government guideline is a maximum of 11% of your calories from Carbohydrates can come from sugar.

    I shoot low with carbs and aim for around 175g of carbs per day, so 11% of that is around 19g. Watch out for fruit - its loaded with natural sugars and is no where near as 'healthy' as people insist. When trying to lose weight limit yourself to a single portion of fruit per day. A recent medical journal also highlighted the worrying research that fructose increases (specifically) abdominal fat, and saturated fat around the heart!
  • kristinlbrammer
    kristinlbrammer Posts: 20 Member
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    You can add "sugar" into your food diary settings! Go to food, then settings, then add sugar to nutrients tracked! When I do this it presets my goal at 24. It's hard!! I'm almost always going over on sugar :( I don't cheat when tracking my foods, and you wouldn't believe how much sugar is in some foods! I never realized how easy it was to consume too much sugar until I added it. One morning I ate some "breakfast blend trail mix" before looking at the nutritional information and when I put it in my diary I was already over my sugar limit for the whole day!!! Good luck, and I really hope this helps. I know adding it to my diary has helped me.
  • luv2ash
    luv2ash Posts: 1,903 Member
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    I usually am around 20-30 grams a day, but I only consume 80-100 grams of carbs per day too.
  • mmreed
    mmreed Posts: 436 Member
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    I cannot see how anyone can stay under the suggested sugar amount without having such a restrictive and nearly impossible to manage meal plan.
  • ObviousIndigo
    ObviousIndigo Posts: 382 Member
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    I posted this topic last night containing this information. Please keep in mind that natural sugars and refined sugars are totally different things and the body uses and breaks them down differently.

    How Much Can You Feed Your Sweet Tooth?
    Sugars found naturally in fruits and milk are not a problem. It's the added sugars that need to be limited because they provide calories but few vitamins and minerals. You'll find sugar-laden food at the top of the Food Pyramid. Added sugars can be found in soft drinks, candy, jams, jellies, syrups and table sugar we add to coffee and cereal. Added sugar can also appear in sweetened yogurt, soups, spaghetti sauces, applesauce and other items where you wouldn't suspect it unless you check the list of ingredients.

    Here are some guidelines for added sugar based on calories in the daily food choices:

    1,600 calories - Limit sugar to 6 teaspoons per day or 22 grams per day
    2,200 calories - Limit sugar to 12 teaspoons per day or 44 grams per day
    2,800 calories - Limit sugar to 18 teaspoons per day or 66 grams per day
    So if the food label on your sweetened yogurt says a one-cup serving contains 22 grams of sugar, and your meal plan has 1,600 calories a day, you've eaten your day's allotment of sugar.
  • judyhawc
    judyhawc Posts: 2 Member
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    According to the American Heart Association, women should consume no more than 25 grams of added simple sugar per day. Men - 37.5 grams. Now here's the tricky part, on the food records here it does not separate added sugars from those sugars naturally occurring in fruit and dairy products. So, at the end of the day I look back at my record to see where the sugars come from. If they are from fruit and dairy, I subtract them from the total and then I know how many would added simple sugar.
  • jenbusick
    jenbusick Posts: 528 Member
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    I second the recommendation to add it to your food diary as something you track, and try to stay below the program's presets (which are weight- and intake-based; mine's 27 for sugar). Yeah, it's hard to avoid, but I manage it on days when I don't eat dessert. I don't drink sweetened soft drinks (biggie), I don't eat a *whole* lot of fruit, and I try to choose products with no added sugar whenever possible. But it's in bread (as food for the yeast -- even my homemade bread has added sugar) and spaghetti sauce and ketchup and hundreds of things you wouldn't think of. When I make homemade pizza sauce, *I* put sugar in it!

    I do try to avoid high fructose corn syrup, which you can do even in sugar-added foods by buying organic (there's no such thing as organic HFCS).

    I find that eating sugar makes me crave sugar, so I have to be very careful with it.
  • hugh_jass
    hugh_jass Posts: 12
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    I try to avoid processed sugar completely and stick with natural sugar (fruit and honey). If you can kick your sugar habit you won't crave sweets as much and it will be very easy to keep your sugar intake low. I went to a diet seminar last week and the guy said it takes about 2 weeks to kick your sugar habit but that you have to give up ALL forms of sugar (processed, honey, fruits, artificial sweetener, absolutely everything). He said the first few days are hard because your body will throw sugar fits but once you get used to it your cravings will all but disappear.

    I did this last fall.. well, except I still had fruit, and it was true. I crave sweets so little now and I'm used to my coffee with cream alone. I used to live for sweets; cookies, cake, donuts, ice cream. Now I enjoy it occasionally but I'm doing a lot better.
  • bekdavis
    bekdavis Posts: 290 Member
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    thanks. these tips are very helpful.
  • MOMvsFOOD
    MOMvsFOOD Posts: 654 Member
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    I second the recommendation to add it to your food diary as something you track, and try to stay below the program's presets (which are weight- and intake-based; mine's 27 for sugar). Yeah, it's hard to avoid, but I manage it on days when I don't eat dessert. I don't drink sweetened soft drinks (biggie), I don't eat a *whole* lot of fruit, and I try to choose products with no added sugar whenever possible. But it's in bread (as food for the yeast -- even my homemade bread has added sugar) and spaghetti sauce and ketchup and hundreds of things you wouldn't think of. When I make homemade pizza sauce, *I* put sugar in it!

    I do try to avoid high fructose corn syrup, which you can do even in sugar-added foods by buying organic (there's no such thing as organic HFCS).

    I find that eating sugar makes me crave sugar, so I have to be very careful with it.


    I recommend you turn your sugar count off in the diary, and focus on avoiding processed sugars. I eat a minimum of 3 fruits per day, sometimes four and it blown by breakfast. There is no way that it can be unhealthy for me to have an apple, banana, some tomato, and a grapefruit!
  • ZeroWoIf
    ZeroWoIf Posts: 588 Member
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    It is not about sugar, or how much sugar is harmful to your diet. Is how that type of sugar affects your insulin. Reason why carbs in oats are healthy, and why an apple doesn't put too much strain on your insulin. Look at the GI index, or GI Load chart so you can understand what type of fruit may not be good for you, or carbohydrate.
  • jacksonchristylynn
    jacksonchristylynn Posts: 1 Member
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    I have researched on this topic for a while & the NATURAL sugars in the healthy, raw or fresh frozen fruit & vegetable you consume does not count towards your DAILY sugar intake. The items you are to avoid that are considered not good for you & that count against you are man made items with added sugars. Things like soda, ice cream, yogurt, desserts, artificially sweetened drinks like tea, flavored waters, etc. A good rule of thumb for weight loss is for women to not exceed 100 grams per day & men to not exceed 150 grams per day.
  • jessiejo1976
    jessiejo1976 Posts: 1
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    I can't find where to do that at
  • kill3rtofu
    kill3rtofu Posts: 169 Member
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    i'd try to stay away from processed sugars, but disregard sugar from fruits--those are fine
  • thyme4
    thyme4 Posts: 35 Member
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    Sugar is a real craving trigger for me, so I watch it more than fat. When I first started my program, I eliminated all added sugars as well as fruit for the first month to break the craving cycle. I have slowly reintroduced fruit but try to stay with lower glycemic options. Honestly, I will eat a good hearty bread before a banana most days, because it doesn't trigger any cravings for me. I try to keep my total sugars under 30 g a day; even when I exercise and earn more calories, I don't consume them in sugar. This does eliminate lots of processed foods from your diet, but it was so much easier sticking to my eating plan when I wasn't experiencing cravings all the time.
  • ashzacher
    ashzacher Posts: 114 Member
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    I have read that MFP doesn't give you much of a sugar allowance to begin with. I mostly just try to avoid anything with artificial sweetner or added sugar. Honestly, I don't think having an apple and a banana each day is anything worth being seriously worried about. When I first started reading food labels, I was shocked at what has added sugar! From peanut butter to greek yogurt!

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