How to keep sugar down?

therequiiem
therequiiem Posts: 133 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I seem to struggle with going over in fat and sugar. It was carbs as well, but I recently upped those because I am 25 weeks pregnant. I kept my fat intake at about 56g and sugar at 30.
My question is, how are you suppose to keep your sugar below 30 when you are encouraged to eat fruits? And sugar is hidden in so many things!
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Replies

  • Unknown
    Unknown
    This content has been removed.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    edited May 2018
    unless you are diabetic there is no reason to restrict sugars, especially in naturally occurring forms.
  • WholeFoods4Lyfe
    WholeFoods4Lyfe Posts: 1,518 Member
    I wouldn't even bat an eye at the naturally occurring sugars in fruits, but if you are concerned about added sugars, you should just limit the amount of processed foods that you eat.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Even for diabetics the total carb count is more important. I suggest tracking fiber instead of sugar.

    If you tend to go over on fat and carbs, incorporate more protein in every meal. That could be egg whites at breakfast, skinless chicken breast at lunch, and so on.
  • WholeFoods4Lyfe
    WholeFoods4Lyfe Posts: 1,518 Member
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    sugarnspice0613 wrote: »
    Sugar is definitely hidden in many things that are processed which would be the first thing I would cut and try to eat as many whole foods as possible. Sugar is a carb so it makes sense you are going over in both. Berries have the lowest carb counts with strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries giving about 3-4 carbs for a half cup each. To offer more suggestions, it would be helpful if you had an open food diary for me to view your macros/goals and what you are eating as well as knowing why you are restricting sugar to 30.

    Can you give some examples of where you feel sugar is hidden in processed foods, and how exactly it’s hidden? I eat a mix of processed foods and Whole Foods and I often see this claim, but I’m rarely over my sugar count. I’m just curious what people are eating that they are surprised to learn have sugar in them? It’s listed on both the ingredients and the nutrition label so I’m not sure how it’s really hidden?

    I think when people say that the sugars are "hidden" that what they really mean is "unexpected". Of course you can look at the ingredients and the nutrition label. Andplusalso, right now it is not required of food manufacturers to separate out the natural vs added sugars on the nutrition label (this is actually something that is changing very soon) so it's difficult to look at, say a jar of strawberry jam, and know how many of the sugars are from the strawberries vs the added sugar.

    That is just my personal opinion, obviously I'm not the person that you quoted, I just wanted to chime in :)

  • CarvedTones
    CarvedTones Posts: 2,340 Member
    edited May 2018
    michelle172415 wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    sugarnspice0613 wrote: »
    Sugar is definitely hidden in many things that are processed which would be the first thing I would cut and try to eat as many whole foods as possible. Sugar is a carb so it makes sense you are going over in both. Berries have the lowest carb counts with strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries giving about 3-4 carbs for a half cup each. To offer more suggestions, it would be helpful if you had an open food diary for me to view your macros/goals and what you are eating as well as knowing why you are restricting sugar to 30.

    Can you give some examples of where you feel sugar is hidden in processed foods, and how exactly it’s hidden? I eat a mix of processed foods and Whole Foods and I often see this claim, but I’m rarely over my sugar count. I’m just curious what people are eating that they are surprised to learn have sugar in them? It’s listed on both the ingredients and the nutrition label so I’m not sure how it’s really hidden?

    I think when people say that the sugars are "hidden" that what they really mean is "unexpected". Of course you can look at the ingredients and the nutrition label. Andplusalso, right now it is not required of food manufacturers to separate out the natural vs added sugars on the nutrition label (this is actually something that is changing very soon) so it's difficult to look at, say a jar of strawberry jam, and know how many of the sugars are from the strawberries vs the added sugar.

    That is just my personal opinion, obviously I'm not the person that you quoted, I just wanted to chime in :)

    I kind of agree, but this has been in the news and beat to death in forums like this. If you don't know that there is salt and sugar in darn near everything these days, you haven't been paying attention. But IMO, that doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad thing; sugar is sugar and if you are hitting your macros, staying within your calorie budget and have no medical reason to avoid sugar then go for it if it is something you enjoy.The manufacturers don't put sugar in things because they have some hidden agenda; they do it because it makes things taste good. Anyway, read labels; it isn't really hidden at all.
  • nickssweetheart
    nickssweetheart Posts: 874 Member
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    fr33sia12 wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    sugarnspice0613 wrote: »
    Sugar is definitely hidden in many things that are processed which would be the first thing I would cut and try to eat as many whole foods as possible. Sugar is a carb so it makes sense you are going over in both. Berries have the lowest carb counts with strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries giving about 3-4 carbs for a half cup each. To offer more suggestions, it would be helpful if you had an open food diary for me to view your macros/goals and what you are eating as well as knowing why you are restricting sugar to 30.

    Can you give some examples of where you feel sugar is hidden in processed foods, and how exactly it’s hidden? I eat a mix of processed foods and Whole Foods and I often see this claim, but I’m rarely over my sugar count. I’m just curious what people are eating that they are surprised to learn have sugar in them? It’s listed on both the ingredients and the nutrition label so I’m not sure how it’s really hidden?

    If you don't know all the different names for sugar it can be classed as hidden. Unless you google every ingredient while in the supermarket before you buy it of course, but who wants to do that. Basically the less processed foods the less added sugar you're going to get.

    But the sugar quantity is listed right there on the label, as mentioned above it is currently not differentiated as to natural or added sugar, so again, not really hidden or something that needs to be googled, if someone is tracking their sugar.

    As I mentioned - I eat quite a bit of processed foods - yesterday in particular I ate almost all processed foods as it was a crazy day. Frozen breakfast bowl, frozen meal for lunch. A chobani flip for a snack, a sandwich with store lunch meat and processed cheese and a can of soup for dinner. With all that I was under both calories and under my sugar goal for the day, it was a rare day I happened to check sugar as I don’t track it specifically, so I had a half serving of talenti after dinner. Still right at goal for sugar. Way over on sodium but that’s not surprising, nor particularly concerning to me.

    So again, what are the processed foods where sugar is lurking that people should be watching out for?

    Well, here's an example that happened to me recently. I bought a can of kidney beans without reading the ingredient list. Not chili beans, not baked beans, just labeled kidney beans. My expectation when I buy something sold as canned beans is that it will consist of beans and salt and maybe a preservative.

    I was pretty surprised when I went to open the can and saw "sugar" listed as an ingredient.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    nickssweetheart wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    fr33sia12 wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    sugarnspice0613 wrote: »
    Sugar is definitely hidden in many things that are processed which would be the first thing I would cut and try to eat as many whole foods as possible. Sugar is a carb so it makes sense you are going over in both. Berries have the lowest carb counts with strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries giving about 3-4 carbs for a half cup each. To offer more suggestions, it would be helpful if you had an open food diary for me to view your macros/goals and what you are eating as well as knowing why you are restricting sugar to 30.

    Can you give some examples of where you feel sugar is hidden in processed foods, and how exactly it’s hidden? I eat a mix of processed foods and Whole Foods and I often see this claim, but I’m rarely over my sugar count. I’m just curious what people are eating that they are surprised to learn have sugar in them? It’s listed on both the ingredients and the nutrition label so I’m not sure how it’s really hidden?

    If you don't know all the different names for sugar it can be classed as hidden. Unless you google every ingredient while in the supermarket before you buy it of course, but who wants to do that. Basically the less processed foods the less added sugar you're going to get.

    But the sugar quantity is listed right there on the label, as mentioned above it is currently not differentiated as to natural or added sugar, so again, not really hidden or something that needs to be googled, if someone is tracking their sugar.

    As I mentioned - I eat quite a bit of processed foods - yesterday in particular I ate almost all processed foods as it was a crazy day. Frozen breakfast bowl, frozen meal for lunch. A chobani flip for a snack, a sandwich with store lunch meat and processed cheese and a can of soup for dinner. With all that I was under both calories and under my sugar goal for the day, it was a rare day I happened to check sugar as I don’t track it specifically, so I had a half serving of talenti after dinner. Still right at goal for sugar. Way over on sodium but that’s not surprising, nor particularly concerning to me.

    So again, what are the processed foods where sugar is lurking that people should be watching out for?

    Well, here's an example that happened to me recently. I bought a can of kidney beans without reading the ingredient list. Not chili beans, not baked beans, just labeled kidney beans. My expectation when I buy something sold as canned beans is that it will consist of beans and salt and maybe a preservative.

    I was pretty surprised when I went to open the can and saw "sugar" listed as an ingredient.

    Thank you for giving an example. You’re right, I wouldn’t expect there to be sugar in planned canned beans not in some sort of sauce. I went down to my pantry just now to see if any of mine do but alas I’m out of my staples of canned black and great northern beans (just added to grocery list thanks!). I did have a can of refried beans and I wouldn’t have been totally surprised to see it in those but it wasn’t listed and sugar at 0g on the label. Checked a box of rice and black beans I have that I make when I grill jerk chicken and it also had sugar at less than 1g.

    So yeah the canned beans is an interesting example. Do you remember how much sugar was on the label by chance?
  • CarvedTones
    CarvedTones Posts: 2,340 Member
    gamerbabe14 wrote: »
    fr33sia12 wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    fr33sia12 wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    sugarnspice0613 wrote: »
    Sugar is definitely hidden in many things that are processed which would be the first thing I would cut and try to eat as many whole foods as possible. Sugar is a carb so it makes sense you are going over in both. Berries have the lowest carb counts with strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries giving about 3-4 carbs for a half cup each. To offer more suggestions, it would be helpful if you had an open food diary for me to view your macros/goals and what you are eating as well as knowing why you are restricting sugar to 30.

    Can you give some examples of where you feel sugar is hidden in processed foods, and how exactly it’s hidden? I eat a mix of processed foods and Whole Foods and I often see this claim, but I’m rarely over my sugar count. I’m just curious what people are eating that they are surprised to learn have sugar in them? It’s listed on both the ingredients and the nutrition label so I’m not sure how it’s really hidden?

    If you don't know all the different names for sugar it can be classed as hidden. Unless you google every ingredient while in the supermarket before you buy it of course, but who wants to do that. Basically the less processed foods the less added sugar you're going to get.

    But the sugar quantity is listed right there on the label, as mentioned above it is currently not differentiated as to natural or added sugar, so again, not really hidden or something that needs to be googled, if someone is tracking their sugar.

    As I mentioned - I eat quite a bit of processed foods - yesterday in particular I ate almost all processed foods as it was a crazy day. Frozen breakfast bowl, frozen meal for lunch. A chobani flip for a snack, a sandwich with store lunch meat and processed cheese and a can of soup for dinner. With all that I was under both calories and under my sugar goal for the day, it was a rare day I happened to check sugar as I don’t track it specifically, so I had a half serving of talenti after dinner. Still right at goal for sugar. Way over on sodium but that’s not surprising, nor particularly concerning to me.

    So again, what are the processed foods where sugar is lurking that people should be watching out for?

    Things like granola, fruit yogurts etc. yes you can see the whole amount of sugar in the product, but not from what ingredient. Like how much sugar is from the fruit and how much is added (like Glucose Syrup) if you don't know the different names for sugar in the ingredients list it's hard to determined where the sugar is coming from. And for people like me who want to get most of their sugars naturally occurring it can be tricky when eating processed foods.

    Does your body tell the difference between a natural vs added sugar?

    Ooh - I know this one! NO! In fact, most (all?) added sugars are natural. Corn syrup is the most common one; it's natural sugar from corn.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    fr33sia12 wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    fr33sia12 wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    sugarnspice0613 wrote: »
    Sugar is definitely hidden in many things that are processed which would be the first thing I would cut and try to eat as many whole foods as possible. Sugar is a carb so it makes sense you are going over in both. Berries have the lowest carb counts with strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries giving about 3-4 carbs for a half cup each. To offer more suggestions, it would be helpful if you had an open food diary for me to view your macros/goals and what you are eating as well as knowing why you are restricting sugar to 30.

    Can you give some examples of where you feel sugar is hidden in processed foods, and how exactly it’s hidden? I eat a mix of processed foods and Whole Foods and I often see this claim, but I’m rarely over my sugar count. I’m just curious what people are eating that they are surprised to learn have sugar in them? It’s listed on both the ingredients and the nutrition label so I’m not sure how it’s really hidden?

    If you don't know all the different names for sugar it can be classed as hidden. Unless you google every ingredient while in the supermarket before you buy it of course, but who wants to do that. Basically the less processed foods the less added sugar you're going to get.

    But the sugar quantity is listed right there on the label, as mentioned above it is currently not differentiated as to natural or added sugar, so again, not really hidden or something that needs to be googled, if someone is tracking their sugar.

    As I mentioned - I eat quite a bit of processed foods - yesterday in particular I ate almost all processed foods as it was a crazy day. Frozen breakfast bowl, frozen meal for lunch. A chobani flip for a snack, a sandwich with store lunch meat and processed cheese and a can of soup for dinner. With all that I was under both calories and under my sugar goal for the day, it was a rare day I happened to check sugar as I don’t track it specifically, so I had a half serving of talenti after dinner. Still right at goal for sugar. Way over on sodium but that’s not surprising, nor particularly concerning to me.

    So again, what are the processed foods where sugar is lurking that people should be watching out for?

    Things like granola, fruit yogurts etc. yes you can see the whole amount of sugar in the product, but not from what ingredient. Like how much sugar is from the fruit and how much is added (like Glucose Syrup) if you don't know the different names for sugar in the ingredients list it's hard to determined where the sugar is coming from. And for people like me who want to get most of their sugars naturally occurring it can be tricky when eating processed foods.

    Every recipe for homemade granola I’ve ever seen has sugar in it in some form, whether honey, agave syrup, or brown sugar. I’m not sure why it would be surprising to find that in commercially prepared granola as well. Same for yogurt, as a dairy product there is going to be lactose inherently in the yogurt and then certainly there are plain yogurts which wouldn’t have added sugar, the ones with fruit are going to have some sugar from that ingredient as well, and then if you get like a flavored blended yogurt then sure there might be some added sugar, there are also some with artificial sweeteners if you really want to avoid the added sugar. But the point is that it isn’t hidden, or really that surprising with the foods you’ve listed.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    xWintersKnightx wrote: »
    Glucose, fructose, and sucrose are different.

    That is correct they are different molecules. Do you know how your body processes them? The same exact way. Sucrose, which is what most people think of when talking about added sugar, is a polysaccharide and is broken down into two monosaccharides, glucose and fructose by your body and is processed via the same biochemical pathways as if it was “natural” sugar to begin with...
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    edited May 2018
    xWintersKnightx wrote: »
    Sugars taste the same but the body processes them differently.

    Nope. See my post directly above.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    OP can you please clarify why you’re trying to limit sugars to 30g per day? I missed the part of your post where you said you were pregnant, is gestational diabetes a concern?
  • Crafty_camper123
    Crafty_camper123 Posts: 1,440 Member
    If there isn't a medical reason for you to avoid sugars I wouldn't worry about it. You could talk to your doctor about proper nutrition while pregnant though they could give you some guidance of what your needs are. I would say to just make sure you are eating enough protein and calories and let the rest fall into place. I'm sure baby won't be harmed and might actually benefit from a little extra fat and sugar. But again, Doc might offer some better advice.

    If there is a medical reason you should watch your sugar inkate, then yes check food lables to make sure it doesn's contain too much sugar. It can be in wierd places. My example that happened to me today: My MFP app yelled at me this morning for my sugar content when all I had planned was a granola bar, salad, spaghetti and an apple. While yes the granola bar and apple will contain a good amount of sugar, it surely wouldn't be that high! Then I remembered they add sugar to jarred pasta sauce. For your fruits & even veggies there is a lot of info online about low glycemic foods you could look up to give you an idea of what to eat more of, and what to limit.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    Crafty_camper123 wrote: »
    If there isn't a medical reason for you to avoid sugars I wouldn't worry about it. You could talk to your doctor about proper nutrition while pregnant though they could give you some guidance of what your needs are. I would say to just make sure you are eating enough protein and calories and let the rest fall into place. I'm sure baby won't be harmed and might actually benefit from a little extra fat and sugar. But again, Doc might offer some better advice.

    If there is a medical reason you should watch your sugar inkate, then yes check food lables to make sure it doesn's contain too much sugar. It can be in wierd places. My example that happened to me today: My MFP app yelled at me this morning for my sugar content when all I had planned was a granola bar, salad, spaghetti and an apple. While yes the granola bar and apple will contain a good amount of sugar, it surely wouldn't be that high! Then I remembered they add sugar to jarred pasta sauce. For your fruits & even veggies there is a lot of info online about low glycemic foods you could look up to give you an idea of what to eat more of, and what to limit.

    Not just the added sugar but the natural sugar in the tomatoes. But you can turn those warnings off.
  • nickssweetheart
    nickssweetheart Posts: 874 Member
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    nickssweetheart wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    fr33sia12 wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    sugarnspice0613 wrote: »
    Sugar is definitely hidden in many things that are processed which would be the first thing I would cut and try to eat as many whole foods as possible. Sugar is a carb so it makes sense you are going over in both. Berries have the lowest carb counts with strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries giving about 3-4 carbs for a half cup each. To offer more suggestions, it would be helpful if you had an open food diary for me to view your macros/goals and what you are eating as well as knowing why you are restricting sugar to 30.

    Can you give some examples of where you feel sugar is hidden in processed foods, and how exactly it’s hidden? I eat a mix of processed foods and Whole Foods and I often see this claim, but I’m rarely over my sugar count. I’m just curious what people are eating that they are surprised to learn have sugar in them? It’s listed on both the ingredients and the nutrition label so I’m not sure how it’s really hidden?

    If you don't know all the different names for sugar it can be classed as hidden. Unless you google every ingredient while in the supermarket before you buy it of course, but who wants to do that. Basically the less processed foods the less added sugar you're going to get.

    But the sugar quantity is listed right there on the label, as mentioned above it is currently not differentiated as to natural or added sugar, so again, not really hidden or something that needs to be googled, if someone is tracking their sugar.

    As I mentioned - I eat quite a bit of processed foods - yesterday in particular I ate almost all processed foods as it was a crazy day. Frozen breakfast bowl, frozen meal for lunch. A chobani flip for a snack, a sandwich with store lunch meat and processed cheese and a can of soup for dinner. With all that I was under both calories and under my sugar goal for the day, it was a rare day I happened to check sugar as I don’t track it specifically, so I had a half serving of talenti after dinner. Still right at goal for sugar. Way over on sodium but that’s not surprising, nor particularly concerning to me.

    So again, what are the processed foods where sugar is lurking that people should be watching out for?

    Well, here's an example that happened to me recently. I bought a can of kidney beans without reading the ingredient list. Not chili beans, not baked beans, just labeled kidney beans. My expectation when I buy something sold as canned beans is that it will consist of beans and salt and maybe a preservative.

    I was pretty surprised when I went to open the can and saw "sugar" listed as an ingredient.

    Thank you for giving an example. You’re right, I wouldn’t expect there to be sugar in planned canned beans not in some sort of sauce. I went down to my pantry just now to see if any of mine do but alas I’m out of my staples of canned black and great northern beans (just added to grocery list thanks!). I did have a can of refried beans and I wouldn’t have been totally surprised to see it in those but it wasn’t listed and sugar at 0g on the label. Checked a box of rice and black beans I have that I make when I grill jerk chicken and it also had sugar at less than 1g.

    So yeah the canned beans is an interesting example. Do you remember how much sugar was on the label by chance?

    I think it was Bush's kidney beans, and I just googled the ingredients and there it is: prepared kidney beans, water, salt, sugar, dextrose , so technically sugar is actually listed twice. Looks like 11 g of sugar per can.

    I mean, I just ate it, as sugar is not a big concern of mine. But it's interesting.
  • Crafty_camper123
    Crafty_camper123 Posts: 1,440 Member
    malibu927 wrote: »
    Crafty_camper123 wrote: »
    If there isn't a medical reason for you to avoid sugars I wouldn't worry about it. You could talk to your doctor about proper nutrition while pregnant though they could give you some guidance of what your needs are. I would say to just make sure you are eating enough protein and calories and let the rest fall into place. I'm sure baby won't be harmed and might actually benefit from a little extra fat and sugar. But again, Doc might offer some better advice.

    If there is a medical reason you should watch your sugar inkate, then yes check food lables to make sure it doesn's contain too much sugar. It can be in wierd places. My example that happened to me today: My MFP app yelled at me this morning for my sugar content when all I had planned was a granola bar, salad, spaghetti and an apple. While yes the granola bar and apple will contain a good amount of sugar, it surely wouldn't be that high! Then I remembered they add sugar to jarred pasta sauce. For your fruits & even veggies there is a lot of info online about low glycemic foods you could look up to give you an idea of what to eat more of, and what to limit.

    Not just the added sugar but the natural sugar in the tomatoes. But you can turn those warnings off.

    I've thought about turning those off, but I like the ones that tell me this food is high in vitamins, or you hit your protein, or what have you. I don't worry too much about it usually. And yes, there is natural sugar in tomatoes too. But a lot of time they add sugar to jarred sauce. Probably for flavor and to cut acidity of the tomatoes. But still, if someone is watching sugar it's something to look out for. I looked at my dairy again for kicks and giggles too. Every meal is around 15 grams of sugar today. The most surprising for me is dinner. No one food is high, but the veggies I plan to add like tomatoes, sugar snap peas, and bell peppers all add up. I thought it was kind of interesting. That's the main reason I suggested looking into low glycemic foods. Sugar can be in places the one wouldn't think to look. Like vegetables. To reiterate though, if you don't have a health issue there is no reason to keep sugar low. Subbing out high sugar options for lower sugar options can be a good way of keeping calories lower though. But overall I feel it's not something to worry about too much.
  • vinceinalabama
    vinceinalabama Posts: 20 Member
    Btw, one banana is TWO servings of fruit.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    therequiiem wrote: »
    I seem to struggle with going over in fat and sugar. It was carbs as well, but I recently upped those because I am 25 weeks pregnant. I kept my fat intake at about 56g and sugar at 30.
    My question is, how are you suppose to keep your sugar below 30 when you are encouraged to eat fruits? And sugar is hidden in so many things!

    Nothing is hidden...read labels. You could also reduce the amount of processed food you're eating if it's that much of a concern.

    I personally don't concern myself with naturally occurring sugars in fruit and veg, but I also put a premium on veg and typically eat 1 to 2 servings of fruit per day.

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