Crystal sugar vs Fruit sugar

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thevyrismark2
thevyrismark2 Posts: 36 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So what exactly is the difference between crystal sugar and fruit sugar? I hear fruit sugar is healthier and I like to believe it is, but 1 homegrown pear got me over the sugar limit for the day. Should I actually care about that?
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  • TheopolisAmbroiseIII
    TheopolisAmbroiseIII Posts: 197 Member
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    calories are calories, whether its a few spoons of table sugar or an apple. The difference is that the apple will keep you fuller longer, since a lot of fiber comes along for the ride, whereas table sugar (in a spoon, or a gummi bear) will do little for satiety and will often, in fact, make you hungrier.
  • thevyrismark2
    thevyrismark2 Posts: 36 Member
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    I feel a bit conflicted. I absolutely love fruit, but if I'm going by the app's guidelines I could only have half a piece of fruit a day :(
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    thevyrismark2 wrote: »
    So what exactly is the difference between crystal sugar and fruit sugar? I hear fruit sugar is healthier and I like to believe it is, but 1 homegrown pear got me over the sugar limit for the day. Should I actually care about that?

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10197460/sugar-faq-june-2015/p1

    Crystal sugar sucrose is a disaccharide, it splits easily into glucose and fructose molecules. Glucose and fructose, as well as sucrose are the major sugars found in fruit. So the short answer is that the sugars are the same molecules and will be processed in a similar way regardless of origin.

    The MFP sugar limit is 45 grams at 1200 calories, one piece of fruit should not exceed that in fact two portions of fruit are typically within it.
  • _John_
    _John_ Posts: 8,643 Member
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    yarwell wrote: »
    thevyrismark2 wrote: »
    So what exactly is the difference between crystal sugar and fruit sugar? I hear fruit sugar is healthier and I like to believe it is, but 1 homegrown pear got me over the sugar limit for the day. Should I actually care about that?

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10197460/sugar-faq-june-2015/p1

    Crystal sugar sucrose is a disaccharide, it splits easily into glucose and fructose molecules. Glucose and fructose, as well as sucrose are the major sugars found in fruit. So the short answer is that the sugars are the same molecules and will be processed in a similar way regardless of origin.

    The MFP sugar limit is 45 grams at 1200 calories, one piece of fruit should not exceed that in fact two portions of fruit are typically within it.

    but isn't part of the "problem" that the actual recommendation comes from a suggestion for ADDED sugars?

    Fruit, cows milk, and vegetables are often exclusions to the "sugar" in recs I've seen.


    Doesn't meant that they aren't processed in the body same as table sugar though.
  • thevyrismark2
    thevyrismark2 Posts: 36 Member
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    yarwell wrote: »
    The MFP sugar limit is 45 grams at 1200 calories, one piece of fruit should not exceed that in fact two portions of fruit are typically within it.

    I weighed the pear and according to this app, it had 60g of sugar in it. It's homegrown and sweeter than supermarket pears, so that could be right. It's just that I love fruit and if I only have half of it, the rest will probably spoil. I'm very neurotic about not wasting food.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    MFPs guideline is constructed for Total sugars. It is therefore higher than things like the WHO's guideline on FREE sugars. It is in line with similar total sugar guidelines in the EU. Health Canada were proposing 100g/day as an RDI on a maintenance diet.

    Two portions of fruit (WHO 5 a day are 80g each) at 10% sugar = 16 grams.
  • thevyrismark2
    thevyrismark2 Posts: 36 Member
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    80g. That must be one tiny little pear. Mine go up to 2kg. It's a very healthy tree :p
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
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    You have over 4 lb pears?
  • thevyrismark2
    thevyrismark2 Posts: 36 Member
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    catscats222 wrote: »
    i eat fruit and do not count the sugar in fruit
    what i avoid, is added surgars - focus on that
    i peeked in your diary and saw a bit of added sugars you could easily avoid.

    True. I shouldn't have had the energy drink. I'm a caffaine addict though, so sometimes I just need one. That's a problem on my part.
  • allaboutthefood
    allaboutthefood Posts: 781 Member
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    Your body registers sugars all the same way. The thing with sugar in your fruits is that there is a lot of other good things in that fruit that you are eating, but if you juice that fruit and only drink the liquid that comes out of the fruit, you are drinking sugar and do not get all the other good stuff fruit has to offer same with veggies. I don't worry to much if my sugar goes over due to fruit, but I do try not to go over by much if any at all. I would be more concerned on added sugar and cutting those out.
  • thevyrismark2
    thevyrismark2 Posts: 36 Member
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    TR0berts wrote: »
    You have over 4 lb pears?

    Most of my homegrown fruits are ridiculous in size and weight. I must be doing something right.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    With entries like "Sugar - Sugar, 6 tsp " you need to dial in a different target using custom goal setting, or turn it off. You have a high sugar diet.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    I swapped out sugar tracking for fibre tracking because it doesn't matter
  • thevyrismark2
    thevyrismark2 Posts: 36 Member
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    I'm trying to cut on sugar, but it's only been a few days since I started. I have to slowly get used to it. Aside from that I'm not too worried. I have maintained the same weight for 7 years while I'm sure I overdosed on sweets. My body seems to handle sugar pretty well. My brother is underweight and eats more sugar than I used to, so I guess that runs in the family. I will cut down on it though, just to see the effects.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    For weight loss calories matters

    For diabetics and other limited medical conditions sugars may matter

    If you aren't in the latter group I would suggest that you don't worry too much about the effects of eating fruit within your calorie limit because of the other nutritional benefits

    Good luck
  • thevyrismark2
    thevyrismark2 Posts: 36 Member
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    rabbitjb wrote: »
    For weight loss calories matters

    For diabetics and other limited medical conditions sugars may matter

    If you aren't in the latter group I would suggest that you don't worry too much about the effects of eating fruit within your calorie limit because of the other nutritional benefits

    Good luck

    Thank you!
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    You probably won't get a good consistent answer here. Most nutrition/medical publications I've seen recommend limiting added sugar and not worrying about sugar naturally found in food if you don't have a medical condition that requires limiting all sugar.

    The WHO is an exception. They recommend limiting all sugar, including natural.

    If weight loss is your only concern, then you don't need to worry about anything other than calories. The sugar recommendations are health recommendations not weight loss.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    thevyrismark2 wrote: »
    TR0berts wrote: »
    You have over 4 lb pears?

    Most of my homegrown fruits are ridiculous in size and weight. I must be doing something right.

    I just want to be sure, since it's a faq, but are you subtracting the weight of the core and parts you don't eat?
  • Roony02
    Roony02 Posts: 46 Member
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    diannethegeek wrote: »
    thevyrismark2 wrote: »
    TR0berts wrote: »
    You have over 4 lb pears?

    Most of my homegrown fruits are ridiculous in size and weight. I must be doing something right.

    I just want to be sure, since it's a faq, but are you subtracting the weight of the core and parts you don't eat?

    Good point actually, I weight the fruit before I start but not the waste after....I will now though!!

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