Naturally occuring sugar

sweetsarahj · January 2011

Hi All.

I have a question for all you who may be trying to monitor/ limit sugar intake. I just modified my food page so it will show sugar, and I'm kinda horrified at the result. MFP has my goal at 25 g /day. I just ate a banana, and a small handful of almonds and dried cranberries for breakfast, and I'm already over my daily limit!

I did a bit of searching on the web and some pages indicate that daily intake should be around 30 g of processed sugar, not counting fruit and veggies.

So my question is, how closely is everyone watching their sugar? I don't eat that much sugar, no sweets, but I do try to eat 2 servings of fruit per day. I feel like a couple pieces of fruit is going to put me over my MFP-suggested sugar intake.

Do you count the sugar from fruit? Anyone out there avoiding all fruit for this reason?

cupcakelover103 · January 2011

I stopped tracking sugar for that reason. I love my morning smoothies which are full of fresh blueberries and raspberries, but one a morning will already put me over my sugar allowance, and i hate seeing that red!
I know that when i'm eating a healthy diet full of whole foods, that i'm getting the nutrients i need. When you eat processed foods, then that is when you need to watch that sugar allowance.
So my recommendation would be to 1) stop tracking sugar and limit processed foods to a minumum or 2) Track sugar only for processed foods.

hpsnickers1 · January 2011

Natural occuring sugars do not count as sugar in the sugar column. They count towards carbs. I minus those out of my total sugar count. Tracking sugar is just as important as tracking sodium, protein, carbs in my book.
I don't count the sugar from fruits, veggies, milk, etc.

Cranberries are full of sugar because they are a very tart fruit. Eat dried fruits in very small amounts. Even natural sugars can cause weight gain if you eat too much of it. I might put a few raisins in my salad and that's about it for dried fruit. Stick with fresh fruit.

julianpoutram · January 2011

Natural sugars are good for you! Its the processed stuff that can really harm your health! I always say that a processed sugar snack is deffinitely less healthy for you than a fruit snack and besides!, if you can keep at your calorie target or under then it doesnt matter so much about sugar! Just try and keep it to natural sugars if you can!

Benjr755 · January 2011

STOP tracking sugar. STOP eating processed sugar, weight watchers new points plus program gives 0 points to all fruits and veggies except the starchy ones (corn, peas, avacados,) and Dr. Oz. says processed sugar is killing us. long story go to his web site to find out . droz.com

autumntia · January 2011

I definitely watch my sugar intake! Sugar turns to fat in our system and once you cut out a lot of sugar and watch your starch intake the fat will really start to melt away.
I try to only eat fruits in the AM, and then nothing else sugary throughout the day...once a week I will have cookie or something yummy, but other than that no sugar...it is not even a necessary nutrient, it just tastes good.
I have also started using Truvia.

hpsnickers1 · January 2011

I don't track my sugar at all. I don't eat processed foods in general or foods with added sugar except wholesome baked goods or ice cream as a treat. I think looking at my carb count is very adequate and I feel confident that if I'm meeting my carbs goal, I'm ok.

Diabetics count carbs, not sugar grams. Also you can subtract grams of fiber from your carb count since that is not absorbed. Good luck!

This is true. I always thought it was just sugar but since carbs are processed into sugar in our bodies it would make total sense. My brother was recently diagnosed and not only does he have to cut out sugar but all the starchy carbs like white potatoes.

HEATHERB500 · January 2011

I agree with the others stop tracking sugar. If you are a diabetic you just need to track net carbs. The biggest thing you need to avoid is added sugars. The dried cranberries contain tons of added sugar to make them sweeter. This is common with a lot of dried fruits, but not all so read the ingredients. If it shows sugar or high fructose corn syrup in the ingredients it is not natural sugar. The sugars that they show in the nutrient amount RDA chart contains both natural and added so stay focused on the ingredients for this one and you will be able to tell. Best of lucj to you.

ShannonWinger · January 2011

I logged in a spinach & mushroom omelette this morning and it said there was sugar in that. What? How is there sugar in that. I just have to ignore it. I have been tracking my sugar but I'm just going to turn it off because it annoys me. I'm trying to be very careful with my sugar intake.

myukniewicz · January 2011

i agree w/ everyone who posted above.
processed sugar is what you want to watch, naturally occurring sugars are nothing to be concerned with.

sweetsarahj · January 2011

Thanks everyone for the great tips! I will definitely have to check the ingredients of the dried cranberries, they probably do have added sugar.

I don't eat processed food, in fact I have been working towards eliminating all processed food from my diet. I'm lucky, as I was a chef in my former career, so healthy eating is easy for me. However, the downside to being a chef is truly loving food!

ANYWAY, I think I am going to keep tracking the sugar, just to stay informed about what I am eating, although I'm not too concerned about the sugar from fruit. One thing that did shock me was the amount of sugar in Heinz beans with tomato sauce. It's one of the few processed foods I eat, but seeing the amount of sugar is a great incentive for me to start making my own! Anyone have a recipe? LOL.

hpsnickers1 · January 2011

Thanks everyone for the great tips! I will definitely have to check the ingredients of the dried cranberries, they probably do have added sugar.

I don't eat processed food, in fact I have been working towards eliminating all processed food from my diet. I'm lucky, as I was a chef in my former career, so healthy eating is easy for me. However, the downside to being a chef is truly loving food!

ANYWAY, I think I am going to keep tracking the sugar, just to stay informed about what I am eating, although I'm not too concerned about the sugar from fruit. One thing that did shock me was the amount of sugar in Heinz beans with tomato sauce. It's one of the few processed foods I eat, but seeing the amount of sugar is a great incentive for me to start making my own! Anyone have a recipe? LOL.

Oh they do and a lot - I think around 26g. I love my Craisins but cut them out for that reason. Raisins are almost as yummy but at least they are natural sugars so I count them as carbs.

sweetsarahj · January 2011

Found this online, with molasses. Nutrition content looks pretty good overall but not sure about sugar. Beans are starchy so that is part of the sugar you are seeing.

Hmm good thought about the starch. I really like eating beans for breakfast so I will have to find some good recipes.

mdeshotels · January 2011

I agree with the consensus. I was shocked at the red originally - but now use it as a reminder. My goal is to have only 1-2 items per day with added sugar. If I have coffee with sweetened cream (1 tbsp) that's my one item for the day. So I will check my food log carefully to make that the red number is from naturally occurring sugar in fruits and other items. Glad to known that I am not the only one that worried over this number. :laugh:

starryeyes52 · October 2013

according to experts "sugar is sugar" and I know how you feel I have been trying to eliminate excess but am always over by about 10grs on my diet. Considering I was about 40gms over I am doing well.
Not easy when so many natural fruits and veggies have sugar.

jovalleau · October 2013

I think the MFP count is supposed to track added sugar, but it lumps it all together, whether it be from a cupcake or an apple.

tigersword · October 2013

Holy necrobump!

Kamikazeflutterby · October 2013

Thanks everyone for the great tips! I will definitely have to check the ingredients of the dried cranberries, they probably do have added sugar.

I don't eat processed food, in fact I have been working towards eliminating all processed food from my diet. I'm lucky, as I was a chef in my former career, so healthy eating is easy for me. However, the downside to being a chef is truly loving food!

ANYWAY, I think I am going to keep tracking the sugar, just to stay informed about what I am eating, although I'm not too concerned about the sugar from fruit. One thing that did shock me was the amount of sugar in Heinz beans with tomato sauce. It's one of the few processed foods I eat, but seeing the amount of sugar is a great incentive for me to start making my own! Anyone have a recipe? LOL.

Hate to tell you, but most of that's not added sugar, it's just tomato sauce. My favorite made from scratch tomato sauce has about 23g sugar per cup, and that's with tomatoes from my garden, herbs, and olive oil as the only ingredients.

Sugar is just sugar. It is not teh debbil. The difference between "processed" and "natural" sugar is that the fruit is going to be lower cal with fiber and extra vitamins, whereas the snack cake will be calorie dense without the extra vitamins. This does not make the snack cake "evil," it does not make the sugar "turn directly into fat," it just makes the snack cake a food you have to eat less of to get a decent volume of food in a day and maintain a deficit.

Naturally occuring sugar

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