OMG Sugar
MamaNess2018
Posts: 19 Member
I’ve been tracking my eating habits for almost a month. I’ve been noticing that I regularly go over the daily sugar goal, which is 45 grams. Today I just googled it, and it turns out the daily recommendation for wemon is 25 grams!
I’ve been trying to reduce my daily sugar intake since I noticed that I was going over the goal, and it’s a lot harder than I thought! Now that I realize even 45 grams is too much I’m kinda in shock!
Anyone else come to this realization when you started tracking eating habits?
I’ve been trying to reduce my daily sugar intake since I noticed that I was going over the goal, and it’s a lot harder than I thought! Now that I realize even 45 grams is too much I’m kinda in shock!
Anyone else come to this realization when you started tracking eating habits?
1
Replies
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The daily recommendation is for added sugar. The goal MFP gives you is 15% of total calories for all sugar, as it currently cannot be distinguished whether sugar is natural or added on food labels. Unless you have a medical reason to watch your sugar intake, it's fine to go over. I don't even bother tracking it.17
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I went over my MFP default sugar goal every day while losing weight, when most days the only added sugar I ate was a bit of concentrated fruit juice well down the ingredient list in a single 30-calorie tablespoon of all-fruit spread. The rest of the sugar was from whole fruit, and the inherent sugars in no-sugar-added dairy products (plain nonfat Greek yogurt, skim milk, some cheese).
My solution: Remove the sugar column from my MFP food log page, and replace it with fiber. Since I'm not diabetic or prediabetic, this worked great.
So, I lost 50+ pounds in less than a year despite so-called excess sugar, and have maintained a healthy weight for 2 years since. Now, in maintenance, I even occasionally eat candy, baked goods, or ice cream. Imagine that.
Sugar is potentially harmful if you're diabetic, if you're prediabetic/insulin resistant, or if you eat so much of it that those calories drive truly necessary nutrition out of your daily eating (because you need certain minimums of protein, fats, and micronutrients). Otherwise, you can ignore it.18 -
Sugar is one of the major things i watch out for as well. Before this journey, i'd eat sugar all day and think i was ok, until i took my 26 year old self to the doctor and was told i was now pre diabetic... It was hard only for a short time to stay within my new goal for sugar intake. But the solution is finding things that you love to eat....that happen to be low in sugar. For me, its 1/2 cup of blue berries or 1/2 a banana in my morning oatmeal, a green granny smith apple w a tbsp of peanut butter (which also counts as protein) or whatever amount of sugar is in my sweet potato at dinner. Find what u like, and allow the sugar to be from whole foods is the take home.8
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I don't even track it. I don't have any medical conditions that warrant be to be mindful of carbs . I know carbs do not cause weight gain,a calorie surplus does. So I'm not worried about it. I eat a well balanced wide variety diet with plenty of whole foods and also some treats.15
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100_PROOF_ wrote: »I don't even track it. I don't have any medical conditions that warrant be to be mindful of carbs . I know carbs do not cause weight gain,a calorie surplus does. So I'm not worried about it. I eat a well balanced wide variety diet with plenty of whole foods and also some treats.
This is me, as well. I removed sugar from my display and showed fiber, instead.7 -
serindipte wrote: »100_PROOF_ wrote: »I don't even track it. I don't have any medical conditions that warrant be to be mindful of carbs . I know carbs do not cause weight gain,a calorie surplus does. So I'm not worried about it. I eat a well balanced wide variety diet with plenty of whole foods and also some treats.
This is me, as well. I removed sugar from my display and showed fiber, instead.
Same. I don't track sugar, nor do I worry about it.4 -
Thanks, all. It’s good to hear other perspectives on this. I think I’m going to keep it for a little while longer because I am prone to eating candy and it’s been good motivation NOT to eat any.1
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serindipte wrote: »100_PROOF_ wrote: »I don't even track it. I don't have any medical conditions that warrant be to be mindful of carbs . I know carbs do not cause weight gain,a calorie surplus does. So I'm not worried about it. I eat a well balanced wide variety diet with plenty of whole foods and also some treats.
This is me, as well. I removed sugar from my display and showed fiber, instead.
Me, three.1 -
I track iron instead2
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It's good to watch, while you're learning. When you see a big number, look at where it comes from. See which foods have it, and what kind. My breakfast this morning is plain, full fat yogurt (with peanut butter) and the yogurt has 12.
As mentioned earlier: the guidelines are for added sugars.
And then when you're acclimated it, replace it with fiber. When I travel I *only* track fiber (mentally). Am I getting enough? Great.1 -
Sometimes I go over at breakfast when I go heavy on fruit. Like others, I ignore it.0
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Just checked my sugar for yesterday (which I knew was high because I had nearly a liter of milk), and I was right. Plain boring milk alone shot me over MFP target. That, in addition to lots of strawberries and tomatoes, and my sugar shot right up. I didn't have even a gram of added sugar (which I believe is fine in moderation, by the way). Stop worrying too much. Unless you're overeating it or undereating nutritious foods you should be fine.4
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serindipte wrote: »100_PROOF_ wrote: »I don't even track it. I don't have any medical conditions that warrant be to be mindful of carbs . I know carbs do not cause weight gain,a calorie surplus does. So I'm not worried about it. I eat a well balanced wide variety diet with plenty of whole foods and also some treats.
This is me, as well. I removed sugar from my display and showed fiber, instead.
Same. I don't track sugar, nor do I worry about it.
I don't track it either. I had to dig it out from reports. I didn't even track it when I was nearly diabetic because total sugar grams are meaningless for that purpose. For blood sugar control, you pay attention to total carbs per meal/snack, food combinations, food portions, and your specific blood sugar triggers.8 -
I'm a type 1 diabetic and I don't even look at sugars. My glucose is good as long as my macros are balanced within my calorie bank.4
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MamaNess2018 wrote: »I’ve been tracking my eating habits for almost a month. I’ve been noticing that I regularly go over the daily sugar goal, which is 45 grams. Today I just googled it, and it turns out the daily recommendation for wemon is 25 grams!
I’ve been trying to reduce my daily sugar intake since I noticed that I was going over the goal, and it’s a lot harder than I thought! Now that I realize even 45 grams is too much I’m kinda in shock!
Anyone else come to this realization when you started tracking eating habits?
No, because I was aware the 25 g rec was for added sugar, and I don't eat that much added sugar.
I am unaware of any credible recommendation for limiting total sugar, so instead I focus on having enough protein, healthy fats, and fiber.4 -
LSmith0018 wrote: »I feel high level of sugar intake can very much mitigate, if not override, physical exercise at times. You definitely need the exercise, but you also need to watch the sugar like a hawk. Just my humble thoughts.
2.5 times the recommended limit is not uncommon for me. I am in the best shape I have been in for decades.5 -
Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »It's good to watch, while you're learning. When you see a big number, look at where it comes from. See which foods have it, and what kind. My breakfast this morning is plain, full fat yogurt (with peanut butter) and the yogurt has 12.
As mentioned earlier: the guidelines are for added sugars.
And then when you're acclimated it, replace it with fiber. When I travel I *only* track fiber (mentally). Am I getting enough? Great.
Good advice.0 -
doux_et_fort wrote: »Sugar is one of the major things i watch out for as well. Before this journey, i'd eat sugar all day and think i was ok, until i took my 26 year old self to the doctor and was told i was now pre diabetic... It was hard only for a short time to stay within my new goal for sugar intake. But the solution is finding things that you love to eat....that happen to be low in sugar. For me, its 1/2 cup of blue berries or 1/2 a banana in my morning oatmeal, a green granny smith apple w a tbsp of peanut butter (which also counts as protein) or whatever amount of sugar is in my sweet potato at dinner. Find what u like, and allow the sugar to be from whole foods is the take home.
please understand that eating sugar in excess doesnt cause diabetes or prediabetes,thats an old myth. other factors cause diabetes and it can be hereditary as well.3 -
I go over almost every single day. I removed it from display, since it didn't seem like there was much point to it. Here's my top 10 sources of sugar, of which halo-top is the only one that's highly processed. I'm not really planning on eliminating/reducing any of them.
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It's a huge can of worms this one.
I eat a lot of fruit, therefore my sugar goal is *always* over the recommended target. No fitness app, nor human, will ever convince me that eating fruit is bad for me.
...but there are people, even in this community, who'll have you believe that eating fruit is as bad as eating chocolate all day.
Take a look at the sugars you're eating, if they're not refined, and mostly coming from whole-food sources (fruits) then you're probably fine.
If you have a problem or risk for bigh blood sugar, and apparently if you are pregnant (I assume a gestational diabetes thing) than even fruit sugar really needs to be watched. It can cause serious health issues if you are already at risk.
Otherwise, a certain amount of fruit sugars is good for you, especially when it comes with all the other naturally occurring vitamins and minerals. Just be aware of how quickly sweet, fruity, calories can build up.0 -
fuzzylop72 wrote: »I go over almost every single day. I removed it from display, since it didn't seem like there was much point to it. Here's my top 10 sources of sugar, of which halo-top is the only one that's highly processed. I'm not really planning on eliminating/reducing any of them.
Exactly. Thank you for reminding me of checking my cumulative sugar intake through that features. Sorry, tomatoes will never be out of my diet.
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amusedmonkey wrote: »LSmith0018 wrote: »Sugar is the biggest fitness problem in existence.
Could you explain that sentence, please? Like a power lifter gets weaker when they eat sugar, for example?
I ate Sour Patch Kids and Haribo Peaches at my meet Saturday and broke state record on deadlift. So, I think that's a big ol' nope.
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vgentile990 wrote: »Food companies put sugar into everything they can. It’s there best bet that’ll sugar will have you taste buds addicted and want more. The only thing you can really do is read labels and drink water over juice or soda ... reduce not element fruits intake
And a lot of times foods with low or no added sugars, more whole ingredients, etc. are more expensive than comparable foods with added sugars and more refined ingredients.4 -
MamaNess2018 wrote: »I’ve been tracking my eating habits for almost a month. I’ve been noticing that I regularly go over the daily sugar goal, which is 45 grams. Today I just googled it, and it turns out the daily recommendation for wemon is 25 grams!
I’ve been trying to reduce my daily sugar intake since I noticed that I was going over the goal, and it’s a lot harder than I thought! Now that I realize even 45 grams is too much I’m kinda in shock!
Anyone else come to this realization when you started tracking eating habits?
The 25 grams recommendation is for added sugar. The 45 grams you got from MFP is total sugar...added and naturally occurring.
I never really tracked it because once I gave up soda, I ate very little in the way of added sugar...most of my sugar comes from veg and a serving or two of fruit daily.0 -
For what it's worth, I'm a type 2 diabetic who tests blood sugar after eating frequently, and as far as my blood glucose levels are concerned, there's nothing magic about sugar as compared to other carbs such as starches. One of the things which spikes my levels worst is a plain white tortilla, no added sugar at all. While a large navel orange full of sugar is fine for me because of the fiber which slows down digestion. I don't track sugar on MFP and replaced that column with fiber so I could calculate net carbs.
All carbs (excepting fiber) end up as sugar when you digest them anyway.4
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