How much sugar should REALLY I consume a day?

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kaycostanzo
kaycostanzo Posts: 2 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I am currently on a weight loss journey. I don't have too much to lose, maybe about 10 pounds left.

I have generally never been too concerned about my sugar intake and have always lost weight fine not counting grams of sugar. However, after reading in lots of places about the harms of sugar on our bodies I am trying to be much more aware of how much sugar I eat.

I have seen that for women 25 g of sugar should be the max, but I just think that's too low for me personally. I would hardly be able to eat anything and I'm not ready to give up sugar in my coffee, fruits, healthy desserts, etc. It's just not realistic and I'd be miserable.

So, does anyone have any ideas, advice, knowledge about what a more realistic sugar intake goal for a day should be?

Should I be concerned about eating too much fruit sugar? Honey? And other less processed sources of sugar? There is so much conflicting info on the Web, with some people saying to completely cut out sugar.....say whattttt??? Some say even fruit and honey is bad!

I think MFP says my sugar goal should be 57g a day, but I don't know how accurate that is.

Thanks in advanced!!

Replies

  • Andropolice
    Andropolice Posts: 9 Member
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    Fruits have a lot of good nutrients but I believe eating in a way that you can maintain for life is the best way to get to your goals. All in moderation though :)
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    Unless you have a medical reason to watch your sugar intake, eat as much as you'd like. In moderation, of course.
  • no_day_but_2day
    no_day_but_2day Posts: 222 Member
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    Andropolice wrote: »
    Fruits have a lot of good nutrients but I believe eating in a way that you can maintain for life is the best way to get to your goals. All in moderation though :)

    ^^ This exactly. Although, I thought I could never give up my apple a day habit and when I started low carb, I realized it was a lot easier than I thought. I now eat at least 1500 calories a day and I most of the time am between 25-30 grams a day and that's because I eat a Crap ton of veggies. All carbs have sugar in them, even the healthy stuff like veggies. So, 25 is a good minimum but for some people, it's not possible if they eat rice/fruit/carbs and such. If you're worried about sugar, just start by cutting out the added stuff and don't worry so much about the natural stuff. Especially if it doesn't seem maintainable. That's the key.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    25 g is based on the assumption that you eat about 2000 calories for maintenance and is 5% of that.

    More significantly, the lower numbers like that are for ADDED sugar, as is the new dietary recommendations to stay below 10% of total calories and the WHO's similar recommendation (with 5% as an ideal). Also, if you read their reasoning, it's about foods with added sugars often (not always) being high cal and low nutrient (often the calories are as much from fat as sugar, however), and so people who consume too many of them often are getting too many calories and not enough nutrients.

    Given all this, what makes sense to me is to limit low nutrient sugary foods and unnecessary sources of sugar (for example, foods you perhaps didn't realize were full of sugar, like some granola bars), and not to worry at all about fruit, vegetables, and the sugars inherent in dairy (as opposed to those added). Beyond these, some moderate amount of sugar (I think around 5% on average makes sense, but I don't count precisely, just keep track of what I'm consuming) for treats and extras makes sense to me -- for example, I may have some chocolate or ice cream in a day.

    I tend to think a good approach is to focus on getting in the nutrients you need, and if you do this it's unlikely you will have room (on a calorie-appropriate diet) to over consume sugar. By this I mean meeting protein goals, getting in healthy fats, and eating a good amount of vegetables. Another thing many do instead of focusing on sugar is focusing on overall carb/protein/fat and fiber -- if you have enough fat and protein and fiber, it's extremely unlikely you are overconsuming low nutrient sugary carbs (as fiber tends to come from higher nutrient carbs).
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    You already know how to be a success. Do that.

    The only macro I watch is protein and I try and hit a minimum. Everything else fills in around it. I work to have a variety of vegetables surrounding my main meat of the day. I'll never pass on a great carb as long as it fits in my calorie allotment for the day.

    From my diabetic training I am far more concerned with the total carb count in a meal. Sugar is just another carb; albeit a tasty one.
  • snowflake930
    snowflake930 Posts: 2,188 Member
    edited April 2016
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    Common sense. All things in moderation and portion control, staying within your daily calorie allotment. Limiting or eliminating, processed foods (which can have added sodium and sugars), sugary drinks, (pop & juice), candy, pastries may be beneficial, for some people. Other sources of sugar, fruit, vegetables, dairy, grains etc with natural sugar are perfectly fine, for people with no existing medical condition that requires closely controlling sugar intake.
  • dw920
    dw920 Posts: 41 Member
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    25g sounds crazy. I'm on Day 25 of a Whole30, and I'm only eating naturally-occurring sugar (in fruits, veggies) and I just looked over my last week or so and my sugar total went anywhere from 50g to 100g
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
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    Depends on your TDEE and training\exercise routine.
  • cara4fit
    cara4fit Posts: 111 Member
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    Cutting ADDED sugars is where one should be focusing, with the sugar issue. As in, processed foods of all sorts. If you are still eating processed foods, check the labels and you will see that quite a few have surprising amounts of added sugars, including things you wouldn't think would have them, like certain brands of yogurts, condiments, peanut butter - too many to go into here. Once you have ditched those, don't worry so much about the fruit in one's diet. Fruit sugar is better absorbed because there are fibers and other co-factors like vitamins and anti-oxidants in fruit that help the body. It seems like these days in the rush to low-carb and low-sugar diets, people often demonize fruit altogether. However, if you do have a blood sugar issue, pair that fruit with a bit of protein, and refine fruit intake further to lower-sugar fruits like berries, etc. IMO, fruit is the LAST thing one should give up as far as reducing sugar in one's diet. Again, processed foods of all sorts are a big culprit for adding way too much sugar to one's diet. That's why people say "sugar is in everything" - it is, if one is still eating mostly processed foods. Here's another thing - one can be totally off commercial sweets, candies, desserts, etc. but if one is eating grain products, that's still putting sugar into one's body since grains often metabolize as sugar, especially if said starches are refined - even worse. So does alcohol, which ALSO acts like a fat in the body as well. Lots of things to consider here! People can say all they want about sugar is sugar whether it's a candy bar or an apple, but guaranteed that apple will be a whole lot better for one than the candy bar. Just sayin.'
  • ReaderGirl3
    ReaderGirl3 Posts: 868 Member
    edited April 2016
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    martyqueen52 wrote: »
    Just don't eat a whole bag of sugar. Everything we consume has sugar in it, literally.

    Unless you have medical issues diagnosed by a medical professional don't worry. Sugar intake doesn't effect weight loss. Our body doesn't know the difference between good or bad sugars, because it doesn't exist, it's all the same.

    This. No need to cut out any foods you like to lose weight, just learn how to fit it into your calorie goals (ie eat less of it). I lost over 50lbs and improved all my health markers, and I eat 'added' sugar every single day :)
  • Nicklebee93
    Nicklebee93 Posts: 316 Member
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    jgnatca wrote: »
    You already know how to be a success. Do that.

    The only macro I watch is protein and I try and hit a minimum. Everything else fills in around it. I work to have a variety of vegetables surrounding my main meat of the day. I'll never pass on a great carb as long as it fits in my calorie allotment for the day.

    From my diabetic training I am far more concerned with the total carb count in a meal. Sugar is just another carb; albeit a tasty one.
    martyqueen52 wrote: »
    Just don't eat a whole bag of sugar. Everything we consume has sugar in it, literally.

    Unless you have medical issues diagnosed by a medical professional don't worry. Sugar intake doesn't effect weight loss. Our body doesn't know the difference between good or bad sugars, because it doesn't exist, it's all the same.

    +1
    +1

    Sugar truly is in everything. If you wanted to watch your sweets intake in terms of "sugar" then sure. But i'd never take out anything healthy like fruits.
  • rerez2015
    rerez2015 Posts: 72 Member
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    Sugar is sugar. I avoid it in all forms as much as possible, but that's just me.
  • kaycostanzo
    kaycostanzo Posts: 2 Member
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    Thanks for all the replies! It was all quite helpful. Thankfully I don't eat much processed foods, I have sprouted grain bread, eats lots of fruit and veggies, and sweeten most of my desserts, yogurt, etc. With honey, maple syrup, fruits, or coconut sugar. Of course there are some processed foods in my diet here and there, but I definitely don't over consume. I also exercise 5-6 days a week, whether I'm at the gym or out for a few miles walk, so hopefully that balances out my sugar intake!
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    25 g is based on the assumption that you eat about 2000 calories for maintenance and is 5% of that.

    More significantly, the lower numbers like that are for ADDED sugar, as is the new dietary recommendations to stay below 10% of total calories and the WHO's similar recommendation (with 5% as an ideal). Also, if you read their reasoning, it's about foods with added sugars often (not always) being high cal and low nutrient (often the calories are as much from fat as sugar, however), and so people who consume too many of them often are getting too many calories and not enough nutrients.

    Given all this, what makes sense to me is to limit low nutrient sugary foods and unnecessary sources of sugar (for example, foods you perhaps didn't realize were full of sugar, like some granola bars), and not to worry at all about fruit, vegetables, and the sugars inherent in dairy (as opposed to those added). Beyond these, some moderate amount of sugar (I think around 5% on average makes sense, but I don't count precisely, just keep track of what I'm consuming) for treats and extras makes sense to me -- for example, I may have some chocolate or ice cream in a day.

    I tend to think a good approach is to focus on getting in the nutrients you need, and if you do this it's unlikely you will have room (on a calorie-appropriate diet) to over consume sugar. By this I mean meeting protein goals, getting in healthy fats, and eating a good amount of vegetables. Another thing many do instead of focusing on sugar is focusing on overall carb/protein/fat and fiber -- if you have enough fat and protein and fiber, it's extremely unlikely you are overconsuming low nutrient sugary carbs (as fiber tends to come from higher nutrient carbs).

    Nice comments
  • mboyerxx
    mboyerxx Posts: 12 Member
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    Believe it or not the average american eats about 40g of sugar a day....yikes
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
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    mboyerxx wrote: »
    Believe it or not the average american eats about 40g of sugar a day....yikes

    So if I ate a couple bananas and an apple, I'd go over that. So?
  • ForecasterJason
    ForecasterJason Posts: 2,577 Member
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    mboyerxx wrote: »
    Believe it or not the average american eats about 40g of sugar a day....yikes
    A lot of Americans are now eating over 80g (20+ teaspoons) of added sugar a day, which is pretty crazy.
    http://dailyburn.com/life/health/sugar-bad-for-you-health-effects/
  • EzRemake
    EzRemake Posts: 128 Member
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    Sugar is love.

    Sugar is life.

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