Sugar question...

tyktok
tyktok Posts: 13 Member
in Food and Nutrition
In addition to calories, I track sugar, fat, sodium, protein and fibre in my Food Diary. Does anyone know how MFP determines the amount of required sugar per day? MFP has set my sugar limit to 55g per day. I'm guessing this would include 24g of free sugars (not to exceed, as recommended by the Heart and Stroke Foundation) and 31g of sugar from other, natural sources. I'm just wondering how MFP works around this recommendation, if at all. Thanks!

Replies

  • annacole94
    annacole94 Posts: 997 Member
    The sugar tracking doesn't separate natural or added sugar. It also doesn't make a lot of sense. I wouldn't track it; leave it at carbs, fat, protein. I add fiber and iron as my last two, although I'm considering taking iron off as honestly it doesn't change my eating habits at all.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    I don't believe they do. The WHO recommendation is for all sugars, added or naturally found in food.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    Since they can't determine what is a natural sugar and what is added, it's 15% of your total calories. Unless you have a medical reason to watch your sugar intake, I wouldn't worry too much about it.
  • jlemoore
    jlemoore Posts: 702 Member
    lets not forget that the WHO originally recommended a sugar intake less than its current recommendation by 1/2. It was increased after food manufacturers complained.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,319 Member
    edited May 2017
    I think you've got it right, that explanation.

    I also don't track sugar, it is tracked by default on the "Printable Version" so I can just toggle over there if I want to check. Carbs takes care of anything with which I'm concerned. I track Calcium and Potassium on page one instead of whatever was there before...So Carbs, Fat, Protein, Calcium, Potassium.

    Carbs, Fats, Protein, Cholesterol, Sodium, Sugars, Fiber are tracked by default on the printable page. I'm tracking 10 data points in total between the two pages.

    Theoretically you could track three different things on the first page other than Carbs, Fat, Protein. That would give 13 tracked data points.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    gumoky wrote: »
    In addition to calories, I track sugar, fat, sodium, protein and fibre in my Food Diary. Does anyone know how MFP determines the amount of required sugar per day?

    It's not REQUIRED sugar. It's a guideline for total sugar, and is not that useful if you get most of your sugar from nutrient-dense sources like vegetables, dairy, fruit, etc. That said, it's 15% of total calories.
    MFP has set my sugar limit to 55g per day. I'm guessing this would include 24g of free sugars (not to exceed, as recommended by the Heart and Stroke Foundation) and 31g of sugar from other, natural sources. I'm just wondering how MFP works around this recommendation, if at all. Thanks!

    MFP cannot set a limit for added sugar, because that is not on most labels. I think the 15% is based on the no more than 10% free/added sugar recommended by the WHO (with less than 5% being even better) and the US Dietary Guidelines. The remaining is based on a pretty low estimate of how much other sugar would be in an average diet.

    What I do is look over my day and make sure I'm not getting any sugar from surprising sources and that my added sugar (based on my knowledge of what foods have added sugar vs. inherent sugar) is not out of whack. I know some others prefer to ignore sugar and just track carbs and fiber, with the view that being within carbs and over fiber is a way to ensure that sources of sugar/carbs are mostly nutrient dense (since with the exception of some protein bars or other items with added fiber most sources of fiber are whole food carbs).
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    I don't believe they do. The WHO recommendation is for all sugars, added or naturally found in food.

    The WHO recommendation (less than 10%, ideally less than 5%) is for free sugars (added sugar, honey and syrup, juices). The MFP one is for all sugar (and therefore is higher).
  • david_1988
    david_1988 Posts: 9 Member
    edited May 2017
    Sugar is sugar, there's no reason MFP should distinguish between 'natural', 'added', etc, they're all the same to your body.

    As someone else said, MFP gets its default recommendation by limiting sugar to 15% of whatever calorie goal you selected. You can go to your 'goals' and edit that to a higher or lower number depending on your needs. I think WHO and most government agencies recommend 10% of your total calories come from sugar, but there's nothing wrong with going higher if you're an active person.
  • dfwesq
    dfwesq Posts: 592 Member
    david_1988 wrote: »
    Sugar is sugar, there's no reason MFP should distinguish between 'natural', 'added', etc, they're all the same to your body.
    Well, not really. There are various kinds of sugars. For example, the lactose from milk doesn't affect your body the same way that sucrose (table sugar) does.

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