Sugars

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maffc911
maffc911 Posts: 3 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I regularly go over my sugar allowance, usually by around 50%. Looking at my statistics most of this comes from eating large amounts of fruit, apples, pears, grapes bananas etc. I eat the fruit as a substitute for my old fridge raiding habit involving large amounts of cheese. Should I reduce the fruit intake?

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  • goldthistime
    goldthistime Posts: 3,214 Member
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    IMO it comes down to satiety. If you can meet your calorie goals while eating a lot of fruit, (and I wouldn't be surprised if you can), then I wouldn't worry about the sugar allowance.
  • NEOHgirl
    NEOHgirl Posts: 237 Member
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    On the other hand, repeatedly ingesting large quantities of sugar - even if from a natural source - might make your body more susceptible to problems later, like insulin resistance or diabetes. One serving of fruit is about 1/2 a cup. This means most apples, bananas, etc are more like 1.5-2 serving if you eat an entire piece. How many servings total do you think you eat a day? If you are concerned, it probably wouldn't hurt to cut back on a single serving a fruit a day to start, and then see how you feel after a week. I have to watch my sugar intake due to insulin resistance, so I've cut back to only 1-2 servings of fruit a day.
  • itsmemaringle
    itsmemaringle Posts: 69 Member
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    Swap in some veggies instead of fruit? I like crunchy snacks like carrot, red peppers and recently started on mini cucumbers
  • goldthistime
    goldthistime Posts: 3,214 Member
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    NEOHgirl wrote: »
    On the other hand, repeatedly ingesting large quantities of sugar - even if from a natural source - might make your body more susceptible to problems later, like insulin resistance or diabetes. One serving of fruit is about 1/2 a cup. This means most apples, bananas, etc are more like 1.5-2 serving if you eat an entire piece. How many servings total do you think you eat a day? If you are concerned, it probably wouldn't hurt to cut back on a single serving a fruit a day to start, and then see how you feel after a week. I have to watch my sugar intake due to insulin resistance, so I've cut back to only 1-2 servings of fruit a day.

    I used to believe this, that insulin resistance or diabetes was caused specifically by excess sugar consumption, but the science, at the moment at least, suggests that it is not about sugar consumption but about weight gain. If I had a family history of insulin resistance, I would absolutely err on the side of caution though and watch my sugar intake (in addition to my weight). Ditto for a family history of hypertension.

  • goldthistime
    goldthistime Posts: 3,214 Member
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    I also want to add that current advisories (like WHO's) limiting sugar consumption only address so called "added sugar", in other words, fruit is exempt. And in Canada at least, there is no distinction between fruit and vegetables in our food guide. You are advised to eat 7-8 servings of fruits or vegetables a day.
  • MikeAV8s
    MikeAV8s Posts: 85 Member
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    I fixed that by not tracking sugar. Solved the problem.
  • Afura
    Afura Posts: 2,054 Member
    edited April 2016
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    There's nothing wrong with eating sugar unless you have a medical issue. Is there a particular issue as to why? If there are other foods you can find that you equally enjoy then swap it for those, otherwise enjoy your fruit!
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    goldthistime wrote: »
    IMO it comes down to satiety. If you can meet your calorie goals while eating a lot of fruit, (and I wouldn't be surprised if you can), then I wouldn't worry about the sugar allowance.

    This plus (for nutrition, not weight loss) balance. If you are sacrificing something else beneficial for the fruit (like not getting enough protein or healthy fats or vegetables) that would be a concern. If you are within your carb numbers and just eating more fruit and fewer starches to make up those carbs, I'd say totally fine, just a matter of personal preference.

    Also, the sugar number can be low (it's 15% of total calories) when you are aiming for a low calorie goal. It's then, ironically enough, that many people tend to focus on foods like dairy (due to the protein), vegetables, and fruits as a bigger source of their carbs, which will increase sugars. That's another reason why I care more about source of sugar and eating an overall healthful diet than specific numbers (which are based on the rec for added sugars and a guess at how much other sugar you may be eating, not any credible "total sugars" limit).
  • leaj1984
    leaj1984 Posts: 23 Member
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    fruit also contains a lot of fiber... so it's not the same on our metabolism as having the equivalent in sugar from fake sweets.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    Diary is closed. Typically in these threads/cases there's a whole pile of non-fruit sugar intake going on too.
  • helenrosec1
    helenrosec1 Posts: 82 Member
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    I asked my doctor about sugar intake, telling him most of the sugar I eat is from fruit. He told me sugar is sugar no matter from what source and should still be careful on how much you eat. Obviously natural sugars are better for you, but you can still have too much sugar even from natural sources. I try to keep my sugar at 50g from any kind of source (natural or not)
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    All sugars are natural. Sucrose comes from cane or beet as well as being in oranges etc
  • helenrosec1
    helenrosec1 Posts: 82 Member
    edited April 2016
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    yarwell wrote: »
    All sugars are natural. Sucrose comes from cane or beet as well as being in oranges etc

    I think it's know what I mean by "natural sugar" sugars in fruit etc not processed sugar in cakes or candy. But also confirms what the doctor said. Too much sugar is too much sugar no matter what the source.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited April 2016
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    Stop tracking sugar, or mix up the fruit with raw veggies as well. Fruit is def better for you than reaching for the twinkies, little debbies and what not.

    Weigh the fruit.. and just stop eating LARGE amounts of this. I think raiding the fridge is a behavior problem that needs dealing with not what you are eating per se.

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