MFP default nutrition SUGAR settings??

frankiesgirlie wrote: »

How accurate are MFP nutrition settings?

It's hard for MFP to give a good number for sugar, as there's no real recommendation for total sugar or any credible evidence that sugar from fruits, veggies, or dairy are an issue so long as the diet as a whole is calorie appropriate and includes enough of the other things you need, like protein and fat and iron, etc.

Instead, the WHO and other organizations recommend keeping ADDED sugar to below 10% (and ideally below 5%) of total calories. What MFP does is estimate that the average user will not eat more than enough fruits, veg, and dairy to exceed 15% of total calories when keeping added sugar at the recommended level. That's often not true, especially if someone eats lots of those foods or reacts to a quite low calorie level by upping fruits and veg and cutting down on some other non-sugary carbs (like grains or other starches).

Also, the reason for the WHO recommendation is that eating more than 5-10% of calories from added sugars is likely to result in overeating or not having an overall nutrient dense diet. Someone tracking their diet can see how good it is and keep calories down, and thus many people think it makes no sense to worry about the specific sugar number. Instead, watch protein, fat, and carbs, to make sure the diet is balanced, and fiber to make sure you are getting enough of the more nutrient dense carbs (which also tend to have more fiber than, say, a piece of cake).

I personally watch sugar, but less the total number than the specific sources. If it's mostly coming from stuff like fruit, veg, and dairy, I don't worry about it. I do try to keep the amount from sweets at a smaller number of total calories and I would want to know if I was getting sugar from some unexpected source (although that is yet to happen).

(For the record, I'm the same re giving up alcohol and sugar. I never cared about sweets when younger at all, and found myself kind of subbing them in and having much more of a taste for them after I stopped drinking. Funny, since I always preferred dry wines.)

I agree about cravings generally being in one's head and about habit and expectation. I mostly dealt by reminding myself I wasn't really hungry outside of mealtime and would have satisfying food later. I'd let myself munch on low cal things which was a good way of realizing it wasn't real hunger.

If there's a food I really want I generally find a way to fit it in within my normal diet (for example, I allow myself something sweet after dinner if I have the calories).

What I found helped was to be really focused on why I was making the changes I was, why they were worth doing, etc. Then, if I wanted some cupcakes someone brought into the office in the afternoon when I don't normally eat, I could think hard about whether the pleasure of them would be worth the trade-off. Usually I decide I'd rather stick to my normal eating and have a little ice cream after dinner instead. It was much harder at first, but within a couple of weeks the new habits were largely established.

frankiesgirlie wrote: »

I just know if you've ever bought a pint of
Ice cream that says 4 servings, and had every intention of eating one serving only to finish the whole thing then you know what I'm talking about.

I find if I eat it immediately after dinner and measure out one serving into a bowl (ideally a small bowl) I am totally fine with one serving, although I weaned myself off sweets for a while before starting to buy and eat ice cream regularly again.

If I eat out of the pint I'll eat half the pint as a normal serving.

(I used to finish them, so I do know.)

lemurcat12 wrote: »

frankiesgirlie wrote: »

How accurate are MFP nutrition settings?

It's hard for MFP to give a good number for sugar, as there's no real recommendation for total sugar or any credible evidence that sugar from fruits, veggies, or dairy are an issue so long as the diet as a whole is calorie appropriate and includes enough of the other things you need, like protein and fat and iron, etc.

Instead, the WHO and other organizations recommend keeping ADDED sugar to below 10% (and ideally below 5%) of total calories. What MFP does is estimate that the average user will not eat more than enough fruits, veg, and dairy to exceed 15% of total calories when keeping added sugar at the recommended level. That's often not true, especially if someone eats lots of those foods or reacts to a quite low calorie level by upping fruits and veg and cutting down on some other non-sugary carbs (like grains or other starches).

Also, the reason for the WHO recommendation is that eating more than 5-10% of calories from added sugars is likely to result in overeating or not having an overall nutrient dense diet. Someone tracking their diet can see how good it is and keep calories down, and thus many people think it makes no sense to worry about the specific sugar number. Instead, watch protein, fat, and carbs, to make sure the diet is balanced, and fiber to make sure you are getting enough of the more nutrient dense carbs (which also tend to have more fiber than, say, a piece of cake).

I personally watch sugar, but less the total number than the specific sources. If it's mostly coming from stuff like fruit, veg, and dairy, I don't worry about it. I do try to keep the amount from sweets at a smaller number of total calories and I would want to know if I was getting sugar from some unexpected source (although that is yet to happen).

(For the record, I'm the same re giving up alcohol and sugar. I never cared about sweets when younger at all, and found myself kind of subbing them in and having much more of a taste for them after I stopped drinking. Funny, since I always preferred dry wines.)

Actually, I recently found out that the MFP limit of total sugar (15%) happens to correspond with the Italian recommendations:
http://www.sinu.it/html/pag/05-CARBOIDRATI-E-FIBRA-ALIMENTARE.asp

Gianfranco_R wrote: »

lemurcat12 wrote: »

frankiesgirlie wrote: »

How accurate are MFP nutrition settings?

It's hard for MFP to give a good number for sugar, as there's no real recommendation for total sugar or any credible evidence that sugar from fruits, veggies, or dairy are an issue so long as the diet as a whole is calorie appropriate and includes enough of the other things you need, like protein and fat and iron, etc.

Instead, the WHO and other organizations recommend keeping ADDED sugar to below 10% (and ideally below 5%) of total calories. What MFP does is estimate that the average user will not eat more than enough fruits, veg, and dairy to exceed 15% of total calories when keeping added sugar at the recommended level. That's often not true, especially if someone eats lots of those foods or reacts to a quite low calorie level by upping fruits and veg and cutting down on some other non-sugary carbs (like grains or other starches).

Also, the reason for the WHO recommendation is that eating more than 5-10% of calories from added sugars is likely to result in overeating or not having an overall nutrient dense diet. Someone tracking their diet can see how good it is and keep calories down, and thus many people think it makes no sense to worry about the specific sugar number. Instead, watch protein, fat, and carbs, to make sure the diet is balanced, and fiber to make sure you are getting enough of the more nutrient dense carbs (which also tend to have more fiber than, say, a piece of cake).

I personally watch sugar, but less the total number than the specific sources. If it's mostly coming from stuff like fruit, veg, and dairy, I don't worry about it. I do try to keep the amount from sweets at a smaller number of total calories and I would want to know if I was getting sugar from some unexpected source (although that is yet to happen).

(For the record, I'm the same re giving up alcohol and sugar. I never cared about sweets when younger at all, and found myself kind of subbing them in and having much more of a taste for them after I stopped drinking. Funny, since I always preferred dry wines.)

Actually, I recently found out that the MFP limit of total sugar (15%) happens to correspond with the Italian recommendations:
http://www.sinu.it/html/pag/05-CARBOIDRATI-E-FIBRA-ALIMENTARE.asp

What's the basis for the total sugar? The ones (Australian?) that Yarwell posted before based it on 5% for added sugar plus the estimate of what people would get in total if they ate a diet that met roughly the average if one got the recommended fruits and veg (based on the assumption that most do not).

Importantly, it did not base it on any research suggesting that eating more sugar from fruits and veg to go over the limit would have adverse health effects or anything suggesting adverse health effects from sugar alone, apart from the source of the sugar. (No question there's a correlation between negative health outcomes and a diet that happens to be high in added sugar, although the same is true re sat fat.)