Should I trust the calculated nutrients?

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191353
191353 Posts: 14 Member
in Food and Nutrition
The nutrients goals MFP automatically seem high. Like a daily sugar goal of 54g when I believe I’ve heard the daily recommended about by the heart assoc is something less that 20g??

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  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    MFP is tracking *all sugar,* not the added sugar (which is what most recommendations are).

    Whether or not you should "trust" them is up to you, MFP doesn't know your specific medical needs or history.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    MFP sets a sugar goal as 15% of your daily calorie goal, which I believe is in line with the WHO guidelines. The American Heart Association's goals are 37.5 grams of added sugar for men or 25 grams of added sugar for women. Since MFP doesn't track added sugars, only total sugars, you'll have to decide which guidelines you find more important to follow.
  • 191353
    191353 Posts: 14 Member
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    Thanks for your comments. Sorry for my ignorance but not understanding the “added” sugar. So my Starbucks drink chai tea has sugar in it, is that added sugar? I’m not adding anything to it myself and MFP calculates its sugar in my consumption.

    Ps I was using “trust” as a figure of speech. :-)
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    191353 wrote: »
    Thanks for your comments. Sorry for my ignorance but not understanding the “added” sugar. So my Starbucks drink chai tea has sugar in it, is that added sugar? I’m not adding anything to it myself and MFP calculates its sugar in my consumption.

    Ps I was using “trust” as a figure of speech. :-)

    Yeah, it's added sugar because it isn't inherent to the product. *Someone* is adding it, just not you. So the sugar in things like fancy coffee/tea drinks and soda would count, as well as things like sugar added to products like sauces, cookies, cakes, and bread. The sugar in fruit and vegetables wouldn't count.
  • 191353
    191353 Posts: 14 Member
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    Sorry I’m not understanding the comment that MFP does not calculate added sugar when I see the sugar when I scan my food item. Thx
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    edited March 2018
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    191353 wrote: »
    Sorry I’m not understanding the comment that MFP does not calculate added sugar when I see the sugar when I scan my food item. Thx

    MFP can't tell the difference between added sugar (like in your chai) and non-added sugar. So when you log, say, an apple, you'll also see sugar. MFP calculates *sugar*, not added sugar.

    The goal on MFP is for total sugar, including fruit, vegetable, and dairy. The goals given by many health organizations are for added sugar, so if you want to meet these you will have to find a way to track them yourself.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    191353 wrote: »
    Sorry I’m not understanding the comment that MFP does not calculate added sugar when I see the sugar when I scan my food item. Thx

    Unless you're looking at a very new food label, nutritional labels just show sugar...it may be added or naturally occurring or a combination of both. When you scan the label, you're just getting total sugar.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    Milk has naturally occuring sugar in it. Those sugars count against your MFP goal because MFP tracks all sugars, but they wouldn't count against the AHA goal since it's about added sugars and not naturally occuring ones. Your Chai latte from Starbucks has both naturally occurring sugars (milk) and added sugars (table sugar, sugary syrups and flavorings, etc). Some sugar goals, like the AHA's, wouldn't worry about the milk sugar since it's naturally occurring. MFP can't tell the difference, so they set a higher sugar goal so that things like milk or fruit & veg won't throw you over as quickly.
  • 191353
    191353 Posts: 14 Member
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    Got it!! Thank you very much!

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