Added sugar vs. natural sugar?

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angelinacifelli
angelinacifelli Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey guys. So one of my goals of using my fitness pal is to cut down my sugar intake. However, I'm struggling because I eat a lot of fruits and veggies which have a lot of natural sugar. I'm prettt busy so when I'm hungry and want to grab a snack it's usually between a granola bar or a piece of fruit. I also don't eat any dairy but I always tend to go over at sugar intake by a lot. Does anyone have any suggestion on what types of snacks I can eat that is still healthy but less sugar?! Thanks!

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  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    Unless you have a medical reason to watch your sugar intake, I wouldn't worry about it. Many people will work on limiting their added sugar intake like you are, but don't care as much if they go over with natural sugars.
  • Sloth2016
    Sloth2016 Posts: 846 Member
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    Still waiting for Madison Avenue to introduce "now with Naturally Added Sugar!"
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Eat your fruit and veg...fruit and veg are hardly the problem. If one is eating primarily whole foods, they'd be hard pressed to over-consume sugar to the point of it being unhealthy unless they were eating a lot of honey.

    There really isn't an institutionalized recommendation for naturally occurring sugars...only added sugars.

    Personally, I emphasize veg over fruit and eat a couple servings of fruit per day and way more veg. Also, don't let eating fruit come at the expense of getting adequate protein and fat.

    Because yes, all of this
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    That would be really sad to cut down your fruit and veggies for some arbitrary sugar recommendation aimed at a fat population.

    IMHO unless you have a medical imperative to track sugar I wouldn't bother - it's just a subset of carbs.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Eat your fruit and veg...fruit and veg are hardly the problem. If one is eating primarily whole foods, they'd be hard pressed to over-consume sugar to the point of it being unhealthy unless they were eating a lot of honey.

    There really isn't an institutionalized recommendation for naturally occurring sugars...only added sugars.

    Personally, I emphasize veg over fruit and eat a couple servings of fruit per day and way more veg. Also, don't let eating fruit come at the expense of getting adequate protein and fat.

    Perfect answer.
  • Silentpadna
    Silentpadna Posts: 1,306 Member
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    sijomial wrote: »

    IMHO unless you have a medical imperative to track sugar I wouldn't bother - it's just a subset of carbs.

    This^^^^
    Especially the bolded part.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,952 Member
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    I just cut down on baked goods and increased fruit and vegetables. I don't worry about natural sugar. My issue with added sugar is that it comes packaged with calories from the fat and sugar, and has little satiety.
  • jessicaaxo25
    jessicaaxo25 Posts: 10 Member
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    I only use stevia as a sweetner and avoid all fruit (too much natural sugar and carbs for me)
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
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    Does everyone get the same blogs come up on their newsfeed? If so there is a great one today talking about this every issue. You can't look at a single component of food and judge whether it is good or bad. Look at the whole package. There is too much nutritional goodness in fruit to discount it in your diet because of sugar content. To label it is bad and avoid it simply because of its sugar content is foolish, unless of course you have a medical contition which limits sugar intake.
    Keep eating your fruit in moderation and you will be fine.
  • candylilacs
    candylilacs Posts: 614 Member
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    I am borderline diabetic (a1c = 6.4) and can eat fruit and vegetables until the cows come home. My doctor would be overjoyed.

    Now, potato chips and pasta.....
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    The vast majority of my sugar comes from fruit and dairy, which also comes packed with many nutrients, so i don't let it bother me.

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