Sugar Goals?

The MFP goal is 15% of total calories, which means it's easy to go over if you eat lots of fruit and have a low calorie target. Lots of us don't worry about it, but instead track fiber or, in the alternative, use it just as a check to see where our sugar is coming from. There's no credible science saying that overall sugar should be kept below a particular limit. The lower limits tend to be added sugar and more about calories/nutrition than any specific problem with sugar. The MFP goal uses an assumption as to how much intrinsic sugar the average person is eating, since it's impossible to break out added sugar, and that will often be too low if you eat lots of fruit and veg. Also, it's a loose guideline to help you have a balanced diet, which is why many think tracking fiber better does the same thing -- if you hit fat and protein minimums and the fiber, chances are you aren't overeating low nutrient sugary stuff (unless the fiber is hit from supplements or the like).

Personally I don't generally eat 4-5 servings of fruit or consider that necessary (I prefer to eat more vegetables and well exceed the recommendations for them, and usually eat more like 2 servings of fruit, although somewhat more in the summer when it's in season), and I tend to eat at least 1500 calories, and with that I don't find that I go over my limit. I wouldn't worry if I did due to mostly fruit, veg, and dairy, though.

You don't actually NEED sugar. So I would not worry about getting a minimum of that. Any thing your body needs glucose wise, it can get from any carbs you eat or make itself with your liver.
And it is likely you get plenty of sugar anyway.
Just concentrate on eating the most nutritious fruits and veggies, with the most fiber and least sugar.

dee_thurman wrote: »

How many fruit servings should you have a day?

DASH DIET for a 2,000 calorie diet recommends that you eat 4 to 5 fruit servings per day. Yesterday I ate an apple, orange, and banana. I am pretty sure I had used 42 out of my 52 g of sugar for the day with these 3 fruits. If I did eat two other fruits there is no way I could stay under my allotted grams of sugar.

Even if I were to eat 3/4 fruits with the other things that you eat throughout the day it is almost impossible to stay under the recommended allotment. Is anyone else having this problem?

Is the 52g a DASH thing or MFP? The fruits you ate all are higher sugar fruits, try berries, tomatoes and avocados in your mix for some lower sugar options.

Pollywog_la wrote: »

lemurcat12 wrote: »

Pollywog_la wrote: »

You don't actually NEED sugar. So I would not worry about getting a minimum of that. Any thing your body needs glucose wise, it can get from any carbs you eat or make itself with your liver.
And it is likely you get plenty of sugar anyway.

Where do you read that she's worried about getting a minimum amount of sugar? Are you referring to the DASH diet recommending a certain amount of fruit? The DASH diet is aimed at people with specific medical issues (hypertension, I believe).

Just concentrate on eating the most nutritious fruits and veggies, with the most fiber and least sugar.

Why on earth does she need to worry about the amount of sugar in her vegetables or fruit? Probably best from a nutrition standpoint to get a variety and not limit yourself to the lowest sugar ones.

Because the title of this post is "Sugar goals". I see she is trying to stay under a sugar level, but there is no reason to get a minimum amount of sugar. None.
Some foods that are nutritious happen to have sugar, but that is not why they are nutritious.

That was well said.

Pollywog_la wrote: »

lemurcat12 wrote: »

Pollywog_la wrote: »

You don't actually NEED sugar. So I would not worry about getting a minimum of that. Any thing your body needs glucose wise, it can get from any carbs you eat or make itself with your liver.
And it is likely you get plenty of sugar anyway.

Where do you read that she's worried about getting a minimum amount of sugar? Are you referring to the DASH diet recommending a certain amount of fruit? The DASH diet is aimed at people with specific medical issues (hypertension, I believe).

Just concentrate on eating the most nutritious fruits and veggies, with the most fiber and least sugar.

Why on earth does she need to worry about the amount of sugar in her vegetables or fruit? Probably best from a nutrition standpoint to get a variety and not limit yourself to the lowest sugar ones.

Because the title of this post is "Sugar goals". I see she is trying to stay under a sugar level, but there is no reason to get a minimum amount of sugar. None.

This makes no sense. She asked about exceeding her MFP goal based on the fruit she was recommended to eat (and likely the vegetables too) on the DASH diet. She's not trying to meet some minimum # of sugar grams, as you seemed to suggest.

And yes, there's a reason to get a minimum amount of sugar. It's impossible to eat fruit and vegetables without eating sugar.

Some foods that are nutritious happen to have sugar, but that is not why they are nutritious.

Sure, although we do need some glucose (including dietary if your glycogen is depleted, as you need a little to make it, from what I've read. But again the point is that she never said she was trying to get a minimum #, she asked about the fact that the fruits she was eating were kicking her over the MFP #. So your comment about not needing a minimum # made no sense in context. The question is whether sugar from fruits (and veg, of course) is something to worry about. Contrary to the keto scare tactics so popular from some, no, it is not.

Edit: people get offended when we draw the conclusion that many of the evangelical keto-istas hereabouts are anti fruits and veg, but what else is one to think when someone asks about eating fruit and people jump in to say, completely unsolicited, that NO sugar is necessary, as if it was somehow healthier to avoid dietary sources of sugar like, again, fruits and veg. That's really messed up from the standpoint of any credible sources on nutrition.

dee_thurman wrote: »

How many fruit servings should you have a day?

DASH DIET for a 2,000 calorie diet recommends that you eat 4 to 5 fruit servings per day. Yesterday I ate an apple, orange, and banana. I am pretty sure I had used 42 out of my 52 g of sugar for the day with these 3 fruits.

At 2000 calories MFP would give you 300 cals or 75 grams from sugar, not 52.

The 4-5 daily servings of fruit on DASH drops to 4 at 1600 calories according to Mayo Clinic who also says a serving is a medium fruit, or half a cup of juice.

4 half cups of orange juice (this is an illustration, not a recommendation) contains 44 grams of sugar so would fit into the MFP goal, which you can of course tweak to fit any specific eating plan via Custom goals http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/my_goals

Some DASH diet sheets at http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/dash-diet/art-20047110 come in at 110 - 140 grams a day of sugars at 2000 cals.