Sugars in Fruit

skinnyhappy
skinnyhappy Posts: 152 Member
edited September 27 in Food and Nutrition
So I'm really trying to watch my sugar intake and I'm wondering if I go waaaaay over my sugar allowance mostly because of fruit, is that super bad? Eating fruits really helps me get 100% of my fiber, so I'd hate to cut my fruit intake due to sugar content. I realized Clif bars and the like have a boat load of sugars in them so I'm trying to cut down on those, too. Anyway, any thoughts on fruit intake is appreciated!

Replies

  • Syreeta6
    Syreeta6 Posts: 377 Member
    I don't count fruit in my sugar total.
  • learnbygoing
    learnbygoing Posts: 103 Member
    I don't count fruit in my sugar total.

    Ditto. I don't count fruit sugars or milk sugars. If I take those out, I'm way under sugar every day :D
  • tcsteeves
    tcsteeves Posts: 59
    Fruit is really good for you so don't count that in your sugar intake.
  • Lleldiranne
    Lleldiranne Posts: 5,516 Member
    Well, sugar in fruits is just like sugar than it has the same calories (ALL carbs do, as do proteins) and it metabolized quickly and easily. But it's certainly better for your body than any kind of refined sugar (listed as "sugar," "high fructose corn syrup," "sucrose," or such.) And I think that MFP is listing total carbs, not just the sugars, so it's not horrible to go over your carb amount if it is mostly from good sources, and you're under somewhere else, so that calories are still right. (I'd rather go over on sugar than on fat most of the time!)

    One strategy you may want to try, if you're concerned about sugars, is to replace some of those fruits with veggies. Vegetables are naturally lower in sugars than fruits, for the most part. They are also packed with fiber as well as vitamins (many of which you can also get in fruits, but not always all of them). But again, they do have some carbs (fiber is, technically speaking, a carbohydrate, and I don't know how MFP uses it in calculating daily carbs), so it will still register some.

    But, carbs aren't inherently bad! In fact, the brain needs carbohydrates to survive, and it is very inefficient to try to convert proteins (and has by-products called ketones, which cause the funny breath) to replace missing carbs. Carbs are part of a balanced diet, and going a bit higher isn't always bad.
  • skinnyhappy
    skinnyhappy Posts: 152 Member
    Thank you guys! I had a mini freakout when I broke down my carb intake by fiber and sugars. I'll relax. Almost all my sugars are coming from fruits or whole grains so I'm sure I'm not doing too badly :)
  • lojohnson
    lojohnson Posts: 3
    This is really helpful! thank you!
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