Natural Sugar (fruit/milk) vs Added Sugars
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Hello Everyone,
I have been using MFP for logging my foods, but have a few issues with my sugar intake.
I know that you shouldn't overload your diet with fruit, but I now feel hesitant to eat a lot of fruit/milk due worrying about going over my intake. For example, after a cup of milk, banana, and 3/4 cup of blackberries, I have went through almost 85% of my sugar limit.
The only added sugar I eat is a tsp of turbinado sugar in my oatmeal and the 1-2 grams in misc veggies, etc). The total amount of added sugars in my meals combined is about 8-10 grams.
How do you all handle the issue with sugar? Do you differentiate between natural sugars and added sugars? Any advice you can give about counting mine?
Thank you!
Just to level set, added sugars are not just the tsp you add to coffee or whatever,
ADDED SUGARS
To build a healthy eating style and stay within your calorie needs, choose foods and beverages with less added sugars. Added sugars are sugars and syrups that are added to foods or beverages when they are processed or prepared. This does not include natural sugars found in milk and fruits.
Most of us eat and drink too many added sugars from the following foods:
beverages, such as regular soft drinks, energy or sports drinks, fruit drinks, sweetened coffee and tea
candy
cakes
cookies and brownies
pies and cobblers
sweet rolls, pastries, and donuts
ice cream and dairy desserts
sugars, jams, syrups, and sweet toppings
- See more at: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/added-sugars#sthash.HEjHRtEe.dpuf
From this article: http://familydoctor.org/familydoctor/en/prevention-wellness/food-nutrition/sugar-and-substitutes/added-sugar-what-you-need-to-know.html
How much added sugar is too much?
Your body needs a certain amount of calories each day for energy. Think of this as your daily calorie goal. Different people have different daily calorie goals. For example, an adult athlete needs more calories than an active child.
Most of the calories you eat or drink are used to meet your body’s nutrient needs. However, added sugars in foods and drinks add calories that provide little or no nutritional value. These calories are sometimes called “empty calories.” A small amount of empty calories in your diet is okay, but you may gain weight if you eat or drink too many empty calories.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's website ChooseMyPlate.gov lists recommended daily limits for empty calories. These limits are based on a person’s age and gender. For example, the recommended daily limit for women 31 to 50 years of age is no more than 160 empty calories each day. That is 10 teaspoons of added sugar each day. The recommended daily limit for men 31 to 50 years of age is no more than 265 empty calories each day. That is about 17 teaspoons of added sugar each day. These empty calorie limits are for a person who gets less than 30 minutes of moderate physical activity (for example, brisk walking, water aerobics) most days.1 -
Packerjohn wrote: »Hello Everyone,
I have been using MFP for logging my foods, but have a few issues with my sugar intake.
I know that you shouldn't overload your diet with fruit, but I now feel hesitant to eat a lot of fruit/milk due worrying about going over my intake. For example, after a cup of milk, banana, and 3/4 cup of blackberries, I have went through almost 85% of my sugar limit.
The only added sugar I eat is a tsp of turbinado sugar in my oatmeal and the 1-2 grams in misc veggies, etc). The total amount of added sugars in my meals combined is about 8-10 grams.
How do you all handle the issue with sugar? Do you differentiate between natural sugars and added sugars? Any advice you can give about counting mine?
Thank you!
Just to level set, added sugars are not just the tsp you add to coffee or whatever,
ADDED SUGARS
To build a healthy eating style and stay within your calorie needs, choose foods and beverages with less added sugars. Added sugars are sugars and syrups that are added to foods or beverages when they are processed or prepared. This does not include natural sugars found in milk and fruits.
Most of us eat and drink too many added sugars from the following foods:
beverages, such as regular soft drinks, energy or sports drinks, fruit drinks, sweetened coffee and tea
candy
cakes
cookies and brownies
pies and cobblers
sweet rolls, pastries, and donuts
ice cream and dairy desserts
sugars, jams, syrups, and sweet toppings
- See more at: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/added-sugars#sthash.HEjHRtEe.dpuf
From this article: http://familydoctor.org/familydoctor/en/prevention-wellness/food-nutrition/sugar-and-substitutes/added-sugar-what-you-need-to-know.html
How much added sugar is too much?
Your body needs a certain amount of calories each day for energy. Think of this as your daily calorie goal. Different people have different daily calorie goals. For example, an adult athlete needs more calories than an active child.
Most of the calories you eat or drink are used to meet your body’s nutrient needs. However, added sugars in foods and drinks add calories that provide little or no nutritional value. These calories are sometimes called “empty calories.” A small amount of empty calories in your diet is okay, but you may gain weight if you eat or drink too many empty calories.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's website ChooseMyPlate.gov lists recommended daily limits for empty calories. These limits are based on a person’s age and gender. For example, the recommended daily limit for women 31 to 50 years of age is no more than 160 empty calories each day. That is 10 teaspoons of added sugar each day. The recommended daily limit for men 31 to 50 years of age is no more than 265 empty calories each day. That is about 17 teaspoons of added sugar each day. These empty calorie limits are for a person who gets less than 30 minutes of moderate physical activity (for example, brisk walking, water aerobics) most days.
I don't like how that familydoctor guy is conflating calories and foods. And in fact, only a very small amount of the calories you eat are needed for nutrition. 0.8 g per kg of protein minimum for a sedentary person, 0.4 g per lb of fat and if you eat a variety of vegetables you can get your micros with another 200-300 calories or throw in a multivitamin and need even less. If you wanted you could fill half your day's calories or even more with "empty" ones and still get all the nutrients your body needs if you take a bit of time to choose what the nutritious foods are going to be.
And anyway, you would probably die of lack of calories a lot faster than lack of micronutrient X, Y or Z.0 -
There's no reason to limit fruit in your diet as long as you are eating other stuff. The majority of my diet consists of fruit. In the mornings and afternoons I have fruit as the main course, paired with a healthy fat. I have fruit in the evenings as dessert. Fruit satisfied my sweetooth, and since eating this way have steadily lost weight. I usually have a banana, and apple, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and fresh pineapple daily. My sugar intake is usually around 200g - give or take. Though fruit is high in sugar, it's also high in fiber and very satisfying when paired with cashews, organic cheese, or avocado.
I do differentiate between natural and added sugars, and I do try to avoid added sugars.1 -
200 g/day of sugar ? Way off the chart of any epidemiology I've read.0
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With your family history it pays to understand the total carbs you are getting in your diet daily. Really, it's the total carb count that matters most to diabetics.0
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Lessee. 23 grams of sugar in an apple. So 200g from produce would be ten apples a day, for a total of 1,100 calories. I imagine the organic cheese has to sneak it's way in there somehow.0
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Lessee. 23 grams of sugar in an apple. So 200g from produce would be ten apples a day, for a total of 1,100 calories. I imagine the organic cheese has to sneak it's way in there somehow.
While she did downgrade her sugar consumption to 50 g, it's not hard to get up to 200 g of sugar when one eats a lot of mangoes. I'm sure I ate at least three per day when I was in Costa Rica:
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50g is my regular daily consumption. I make fresh juice in the morning, and usually eat a banana. For lunch I usually have an apple, some strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries. If I had the energy the night before to get it ready, I may have a couple of kiwi as well. The other stuff gets prepped on Sunday so it's grab and go. Usually kiwi doesn't last long in the house prepped. For dessert I usually have more berries. The sugar adds up quickly. At least twice a week I will get something more exotic, like mango (Kshama2001 - really craving one now lol), pomegranate, or cherries and will have either the entire fruit or a bowl full (cherries), so I know I do go over 200g occasionally but have not had adverse effects. Though, I'm healthy with good bloodwork and no need to watch sugar. Have had high sugar days the night before bloodwork and have not had elevated readings from it, as I tend to eat continuous the day before tests since I have to fast test day.0
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If setting out to eat 200g of sugar a day just acknowledge there's no evidence of safety beyond "generally regarded as safe". There are studies where the top end consumption of some fruits (when not conflated into fruitandvegetables) clearly increase risk of certain non-communicable diseases.0
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How do you all handle the issue with sugar? Do you differentiate between natural sugars and added sugars? Any advice you can give about counting mine?
I don't track sugar intake and don't differentiate between kinds of sugar. I do look at the report on sugar occasionally and I am usually well under the amount MFP recommends. I use sugar in cooking sometimes but I don't add it to foods or drinks. I drink mostly water or unsweetened tea. I tend to eat more vegetables than fruits.
I watch my calories and try to get enough protein. It seems that when I do that most of the other stuff takes care of itself.
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If setting out to eat 200g of sugar a day just acknowledge there's no evidence of safety beyond "generally regarded as safe". There are studies where the top end consumption of some fruits (when not conflated into fruitandvegetables) clearly increase risk of certain non-communicable diseases.
Not certain where you're going with this, but I can't help but to feel you are targeting me to be used as some example, to what end I don't know. I don't see the issue of having days where my sugar consumption is high. I don't suffer from inflammation, nor do I have any other health issues, nor do I take any type of medication, because ironically, high sugar consumption and all, I'm healthy. At the end of the day, my macros are well balanced, as I don't subsist on fruit alone. My post was in response to the OP's question regarding sugar, and was not meant to be a discussion item in and of itself to be scrutinized. If you want to have a discussion regarding the upper limits of sugar consumption with regards to epidemiology, I recommend that you start a new thread as that is not what the OP was questioning, and this is a derailment to her query. I suggest when starting your own thread that you include links to the studies you reference.1 -
distinctlybeautiful wrote: »I_Will_End_You wrote: »I don't even track sugar, I swapped it out for iron on my profile instead. Are you diabetic? If not, I wouldn't worry about going over on sugar, especially considering it's from fruit and milk.
@I_Will_End_You Does this mean you no longer see your sugar intake at all? If so, how did you do that? Thanks!
Settings > diary settings > nutrients tracked. Use the drop downs to change sugar to something else.0
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