Sugar! How much??

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sarah8352
sarah8352 Posts: 14 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So right now my macros are as follows. 100 protein, 75 fat, 180 carbs. I eat healthy and moat of my sugar comes from plant based fruits and veggies with some processed sugar in there to keep me sane. How many grams should I aim to stay under?

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  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,012 Member
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    sarah8352 wrote: »
    So right now my macros are as follows. 100 protein, 75 fat, 180 carbs. I eat healthy and moat of my sugar comes from plant based fruits and veggies with some processed sugar in there to keep me sane. How many grams should I aim to stay under?

    There really is no agreed upon limit for an otherwise healthy person. The WHO did make a recommendation regarding "added sugar", but I have no idea what it was honestly.

    The problem with "too much sugar" is either it makes you eat too many calories in order to be satiated, or it doesn't leave room for the good stuff you need. So if you are sticking to your calorie goal, getting enough protein, fat, and fiber, and not struggling in the process, you most likely don't need to worry about sugar. An occasional check up and blood work will confirm that for you over the long term :drinker:
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,010 Member
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    The World Health Organization recommends added sugar be under 10%, or even better 5%, of your total calories. However, there will be no way to track this on MFP until all the food manufacturers include added sugar on their labels and MFP makes a new category.

    As most of your sugar comes from fruits and veggies, you may wish to swap Sugar out for something more useful to you. For me, I swapped Sugar and Sodium for Fiber and Iron (I'm anemic.)

    https://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2015/sugar-guideline/en/

    https://www.fda.gov/food/guidanceregulation/guidancedocumentsregulatoryinformation/labelingnutrition/ucm385663.htm

    ...Manufacturers with $10 million or more in annual sales must switch to the new label by January 1, 2020; manufacturers with less than $10 million in annual food sales have until January 1, 2021 to comply.

  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
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    sarah8352 wrote: »
    So right now my macros are as follows. 100 protein, 75 fat, 180 carbs. I eat healthy and moat of my sugar comes from plant based fruits and veggies with some processed sugar in there to keep me sane. How many grams should I aim to stay under?

    There are no credible recommendations to limit intrinsic sugar (like those in fruit and veg), beyond of course getting in enough protein, healthy fat, and other nutrients, which you will be doing given your macros.

    Instead, the recommendations are to keep ADDED sugar below 5-10% of calories (I usually keep mine below 5%, actually usually well below, but on an odd day I'll exceed 5%). Since it's not so easy to track added sugar at MFP, one option is to make sure you hit or exceed your fiber goal and just look at the sources of your sugar to make sure there are no surprises and it's mostly from nutrient dense foods.
  • OooohToast
    OooohToast Posts: 257 Member
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    https://www.nhs.uk/news/food-and-diet/sugar-intake-should-be-drastically-reduced-says-report/

    Recommendation from the NHS for the UK is that free sugars (outside of fruit and veg) should be limited to 5% of calorie intake and limited to 30g for over 11 year olds.

    And its scarily easy to get to 30g imo !
  • Mrsfreedom41
    Mrsfreedom41 Posts: 330 Member
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    I have been on MFP since 2011 and have been up and down many times. I to have a sweet tooth probably more than one (haha). I just this year - a couple months ago-reached my weight goal. I finally had to give up most of the sweets I was eating and only allowing one treat at lunch time. I ate the smallest piece of Sees candy I could find and lately I've been eating the small Hershey mini bars. But, I only eat it at lunch only. No sweets after lunch. Will power is a must when you cut out things you like. Good Luck to all of you.
  • OooohToast
    OooohToast Posts: 257 Member
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    Well done on reaching goal AND having a sustainable approach to maintenance !
  • lx1x
    lx1x Posts: 38,326 Member
    edited April 2019
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    Op..
    Sugar mfp recommendation is there..

    Web.. under food ..

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    On app.. it's under nutrients list.

    f4ijpynuz89t.png

  • gaelicstorm
    gaelicstorm Posts: 94 Member
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    Just popping on as the resident diabetic (haha) to say that I don't worry about sugar. I do have to limit my carbohydrate intake to keep my blood sugars in a respectable range. Limiting my carbohydrate consumption and choosing less foods with added sugars helps me to keep my daily sugar intake anywhere between 15-60 grams. If your body is able to properly process carbohydrates (as in, your body produces insulin and also is able to use it efficiently) I see no reason to limit sugar intake other than personal preference.

    That being said, I totally had some cheesecake AND three small chocolates on Easter because--why not? As long as you are otherwise meeting your weight loss and health goals, enjoy life!
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,950 Member
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    MikePTY wrote: »
    It's important to understand that most health recommendations like these are not made with calorie counters in mind. They are general health guidelines made for people who just live their life normally and eat food until they are full. That can help reconcile why people here say "don't worry about your sugars" and government bodies recommend limiting it.

    Added sugar is recommended limited for 2 reasons: food with added sugars tend to have low nutritional value, and they tend to be calorie dense and not very filling. So if someone is not tracking their eating, and they eat a diet high in added sugars, they are more likely to eat more calories and less nutrition than someone who doesn't eat added sugar. Comparatively, foods with natural sugars tend to be more nutrient dense and be more filling than foods with added sugar. You will get more nutrition and likely be fuller from an apple, orange, or pineapple for example than you would a can of coke or bag of skittles. This is the observational evidence from studies that has led governments to recommend the restriction of added sugars but not natural sugars, even though to your body, they are the same thing. But added sugar by itself doesn't make you fat. Eating at a calorie surplus does.

    People who do not track their calorie intake tend to eat more naturally when they have a diet high in added sugar than when they don't. So if you are just practicing intuitive eating and natural portion control, which is what most of the world does, then restricting added sugars makes sense. But if you are tracking your calories and meeting your calorie goal without having issues, then added sugar won't be making you fat, and you don't have to limit it unless you have a health condition that calls for limiting sugars. So for us calorie counters, we are to a certain extent freed from some of these recommendations because we are monitoring and controlling our caloric intake.

    Q.F.T.

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