Little Info About Sugars

Options
ObviousIndigo
ObviousIndigo Posts: 382 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I changed my settings to show sugars in my diet and I was blown away when I saw how much sugar I was ingesting. So I thought I would share this because it can be confusing when you look at the allowance for sugar. There are different kinds of sugars and you need to be aware of how much you should be taking in.

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 (meaning should be the least amount). 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.

Replies

  • loriefolk
    loriefolk Posts: 352
    Options
    Good post!
  • strandedeyes
    strandedeyes Posts: 392 Member
    Options
    Thank you! I was wondering about this
  • Tuckersn
    Tuckersn Posts: 149
    Options
    I understand what you're saying, and its a good post. But yogurt is going to have naturally occurring sugars (dairy product) as well. Just be aware of the ingredients in the yogurt . . . even if it shows low sugar (grams wise), if its chock full of sugar-substitutes, its not necessarily better for you.

    Just a thought . . . :0)
  • Lstrode
    Lstrode Posts: 51
    Options
    I was surprised by this also... a few days ago I realized the same, and added sugar to my diary. Sugar popped up in my Prego sauce I had on my Chicken tonight! I didn't expect that! I was wondering this - Yesterday I was under on my calories and over on my sugar. When I completed my diary, there was a note that came up on the bottom that said if I continued this way, I'd put my body into starvation mode... I'm the same today.. even more over on sugar, and still not eating all my calories but the note didn't come up. But I'm still eating WAY less sugar that I have been before I started on this site. I can only imagine what it was before. Since sugar is in so many things, how do I eat all my calories, less sugar, feel full and not go into starvation?? any advice?
  • luefox
    luefox Posts: 6
    Options
    you've got to eat more natural foods. Processed foods have lots of sugar. Think of added sugar as empty calories. The sugar is also easy for the body to use for energy in that form so it doesn't try to convert your fat stores--which is what you want. So if you reduce the sugar intake your body has to work harder and you lose weight more easily.
  • ObviousIndigo
    ObviousIndigo Posts: 382 Member
    Options
    I was surprised by this also... a few days ago I realized the same, and added sugar to my diary. Sugar popped up in my Prego sauce I had on my Chicken tonight! I didn't expect that! I was wondering this - Yesterday I was under on my calories and over on my sugar. When I completed my diary, there was a note that came up on the bottom that said if I continued this way, I'd put my body into starvation mode... I'm the same today.. even more over on sugar, and still not eating all my calories but the note didn't come up. But I'm still eating WAY less sugar that I have been before I started on this site. I can only imagine what it was before. Since sugar is in so many things, how do I eat all my calories, less sugar, feel full and not go into starvation?? any advice?

    That message comes up when you are under 1200 cals per day. with the Prego sauce remember that tomatoes are actually a fruit and do have naturally occuring sugars in them but they do add refined sugar to Spaghetti Sauces for flavouring (probably a better choice to make it yourself). If you are eating veggies and fruits they have natural sugars in them and I deduct that from my daily sugar. It is hard with things like soy milk and yogurts to know how much is natural and how much is refined sugar.

    As far as staying out of starvation mode make sure you are eating at least half your exercise cals back and stay above 1200/day. Eating your exercise cals is a personal choice but I know from my own experience I did go into starvation mode after a month of eating only 1200 cals. I Plateaued, gained weight and got very frustrated. I started eating my exercise cals and watched the scale move down again. :)
  • Lstrode
    Lstrode Posts: 51
    Options
    Great! Thanks! I wasn't sure why that message had popped up. I Have a bad sweet tooth, so it is hard for me to stay under on my sugar, but I'll try to focus on where it is coming from.
  • leomentlines
    leomentlines Posts: 440 Member
    Options
    I have the same dilemma. What I do is deduct natural sugars found in veggies and fruits from my total sugars allotted, and it works out way easier/better for me. I do eventually want to reduce my reliance on artificially sweetened products though. One day at a time, I guess.
  • BoresEasily
    BoresEasily Posts: 582
    Options
    I was surprised by this also... a few days ago I realized the same, and added sugar to my diary. Sugar popped up in my Prego sauce I had on my Chicken tonight! I didn't expect that! I was wondering this - Yesterday I was under on my calories and over on my sugar. When I completed my diary, there was a note that came up on the bottom that said if I continued this way, I'd put my body into starvation mode... I'm the same today.. even more over on sugar, and still not eating all my calories but the note didn't come up. But I'm still eating WAY less sugar that I have been before I started on this site. I can only imagine what it was before. Since sugar is in so many things, how do I eat all my calories, less sugar, feel full and not go into starvation?? any advice?

    After taking a quick look at your food diary I can see that the majority of your sugar is coming from liquid calories. Mostly sodas. Drink water instead and you will cut down on a lot of that sugar. Juices and sodas are a killer of weight loss because you're basically drinking a 10th of your calorie intake for the day in one soda or one glass of juice and not only that but like the majority of your allotted sugar intake.
  • jessieinblue
    jessieinblue Posts: 287 Member
    Options
    Good info.

    It's definitely worth noting that a twelve-ounce can of soda typically has a disastrous 35-40 grams of sugar -- and that's all added sugar. So for a 2000-calorie diet, one small can would be your sugar limit for the day. Don't even want to think about those huge cups people get at movie theaters and gas stations and such.

    Just one more reason to give up soda . . .
  • carib_light
    carib_light Posts: 8
    Options
    I think one of the ways to work on reducing sugar is to use less processed foods. This way you more or less control the amount of sugar you are consuming.
  • carib_light
    carib_light Posts: 8
    Options
    I think one of the ways to work on reducing sugar is to use less processed foods. This way you more or less control the amount of sugar you are consuming.
  • sierraskooter
    sierraskooter Posts: 33
    Options
    Just a note about processed sugars versus natural sugars: it takes your body 10 days to process EACH teaspoon of processed sugar that you eat while it only takes half that time for your body to process natural sugars.

    I learned this from a nutritionist while changing my ADHD son's diet.

    Just an interesting tidbit of info for those watching their sugar intake.
  • racmos
    racmos Posts: 1
    Options
    I also struggle with sugars. Most days I have an apple with my lunch which is up to 17 of my daily sugar, this morning instead of sweetner/sugar/honey I added blueberries to my porrige and this was another 7.

    So can I disregard sugars in my fruit towards the sugar goal?

    Thanks
  • SKismet
    SKismet Posts: 137
    Options
    It would seem that sugar is something that is REALLY hard to track..... I just switched my diary to show sugars, and I've already eaten 24 grams today! That was having Kellogg's Special K with Red Berries (aka strawberries for anyone who hasn't seen it) with milk.... I'd love to take out the natural sugars, but I can't just count out all those from my breakfast because I'm sure that, even though SOME of those sugar grams in the cereal were natural from the strawberries, there was also sugar added. Frustrating!
  • jessieinblue
    jessieinblue Posts: 287 Member
    Options
    It would seem that sugar is something that is REALLY hard to track..... I just switched my diary to show sugars, and I've already eaten 24 grams today! That was having Kellogg's Special K with Red Berries (aka strawberries for anyone who hasn't seen it) with milk.... I'd love to take out the natural sugars, but I can't just count out all those from my breakfast because I'm sure that, even though SOME of those sugar grams in the cereal were natural from the strawberries, there was also sugar added. Frustrating!

    Special K contains a lot of added sugar, including high fructose corn syrup. I doubt the strawberries count for much of that sugar count.
  • slummymummy
    slummymummy Posts: 42 Member
    Options
    I was surprised by this also... a few days ago I realized the same, and added sugar to my diary. Sugar popped up in my Prego sauce I had on my Chicken tonight! I didn't expect that! I was wondering this - Yesterday I was under on my calories and over on my sugar. When I completed my diary, there was a note that came up on the bottom that said if I continued this way, I'd put my body into starvation mode... I'm the same today.. even more over on sugar, and still not eating all my calories but the note didn't come up. But I'm still eating WAY less sugar that I have been before I started on this site. I can only imagine what it was before. Since sugar is in so many things, how do I eat all my calories, less sugar, feel full and not go into starvation?? any advice?

    That message comes up when you are under 1200 cals per day. with the Prego sauce remember that tomatoes are actually a fruit and do have naturally occuring sugars in them but they do add refined sugar to Spaghetti Sauces for flavouring (probably a better choice to make it yourself). If you are eating veggies and fruits they have natural sugars in them and I deduct that from my daily sugar. It is hard with things like soy milk and yogurts to know how much is natural and how much is refined sugar.

    As far as staying out of starvation mode make sure you are eating at least half your exercise cals back and stay above 1200/day. Eating your exercise cals is a personal choice but I know from my own experience I did go into starvation mode after a month of eating only 1200 cals. I Plateaued, gained weight and got very frustrated. I started eating my exercise cals and watched the scale move down again. :)

    Ingredients are listed in order of amount, therefore if Sugar, Glucose etc are high up the list of ingredients found on the pack, then they will be a prominant ingredient. For example, if Sugar was 3rd on the list of ingredients, it would be the 3rd largest ingredient in the product. Different sugars are usually listed seperately too, so Fructose, Glucose and Sugar should be listed individually which will give you an idea as to whether they are naturally occuring fruit sugars, or the empty calorie kind! I guess the only way to get round knowing the exact amount of sugar there is in a product is to cook from scratch - sadly most of us don't have time to do this every night! :sad:

Categories