going over on sugar?

AI1108
AI1108 Posts: 488 Member
edited September 29 in Food and Nutrition
I've recently started strength training so I've kept my macronutrient ratios close to that of a body builder during a cutting phase: 1200 calories - 40 carbs / 35 protein / 25 fat. The problem is that I always seem to go over on sugar even though I stay in line with my macro nutrient ratio. I eat a lot of fruits and drink skim milk with my protein shakes. Like today I had a banana and a protein shake with one scoop of protein (20 grams) and 4 oz glass of skim milk and I'm already passed my sugar allotment for the day.

should I worry that I always go over on my sugar alotted by MFP (24 grams) if its not really processed food or added table sugar? mostly fruits and skim milk?

Replies

  • sethwdyer
    sethwdyer Posts: 19 Member
    As long as I'm getting it all from fruits and other natural source I don't pay attention to sugar on MFP. If you were to stay within MFPs numbers you would have to limit fruit to one a day. That just seems unhealthy.
  • starryheart83
    starryheart83 Posts: 25
    I too have been having similar concerns, because I eat a lot of fresh fruit, especially seeing as it's summer ( love summer fruits!). The feedback that I have gotten is that not to worry about the fresh fruit as it is not processed sugars like candy, cookies, and ice cream! It's natural sugar! Though for my piece of mind I do put in the today's food notes box, how many grams of sugar I have from the fresh fruit!

    I hope this helps!
  • aneisiena
    aneisiena Posts: 63
    I have the same issue, so I'm interested in what the responses will be!
  • TankPKDW
    TankPKDW Posts: 4
    It depends how far over you're going. Calories and macros are more important than sugar, but sugar can eventually throw off your insulin levels, which will mess with your metabolism. You may want to change your protein powder or start mixing it with water instead of milk, as well. Brands like Musclemilk tend to have an insane amount of sugar in them, while most of the lineup from Optimum Nutrition (my personal favorite) is very low on sugar and carbs, and still tastes decent with either water, juice, or milk.

    Find a balance that feels good for you and gives you the results you're looking for, though. These calculators are pretty broad to use as guidelines, so use them as a starting point.
  • aristel
    aristel Posts: 110
    If you don´t have diabetics issues, no problem
  • corinnak
    corinnak Posts: 51 Member
    As far as I can tell, the guideline used on MFP is the one based on *added* sugar, rather than that found naturally in fruits and milk. I wanted to monitor my added sugar (as compared with sugar in fruits, dairy, etc.) and set up an "Added Sugar" meal. Not that I eat all the foods in one meal, but I do track them all in that one meal so that I can see the total number of grams of "added" sugar I am getting in a day.
  • aristel
    aristel Posts: 110
    As far as I can tell, the guideline used on MFP is the one based on *added* sugar, rather than that found naturally in fruits and milk.

    is this true? is based on just added sugar?
  • corinnak
    corinnak Posts: 51 Member
    The American Heart Association is one of the few organizations to give specific guidance on added sugar.

    http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4471

    In this article, they state that for a woman, a maximum of 100 calories per day should come from added sugar. 4 calories per gram means that 100 calories of sugar = 25 grams of sugar. I can't say that this is mathematically true for everyone's MFP chart, but it definitely follows with the suggested number of sugars for me.

    I can't say for a fact that this is what the MFP numbers for sugar is based on, however. It was supposition based on finding very few other solid recommendations on sugar intake and the fact that virtually no mainline health resources suggest you reduce your fruit and dairy intake enough to allow for such a low limit on total sugar.
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