Sugar reduction

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Hi, I have been monitoring my macros trying to reach the goals for Carbs, Fat and Protein, however even if getting near them and not using all my calories my sugar intake is still really high.
Today I have had Breakfast: Natural Yoghurt, Blueberries & Strawberries
Snack: Orange, Banana and Musclefood Anti-Snack Fruit & Nut
But the app is telling me I am already 12g over my target.
My goal is 45 and my total so far is 57
Any suggestions would be very welcome as trying to get my self fit and understand my food.

Replies

  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    edited May 2019
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    45 g sugar is 15% of 1200. It can't distinguish between intrinsic sugar and added sugar (for which there are recommendations for under 10% and ideally perhaps under 5% by reputable organizations, so just picked a number for total sugar based on its guess of what percentage of that in added sugar the average person would consume). There's no credible evidence that intrinsic sugar (that in dairy, fruit, veg, etc.) is a problem so long as you are otherwise meeting nutritional requirements and eating a healthy diet, the issue with added sugar is more that it typically comes in higher cal lower nutrient foods, often with lots of other cals from added fat. Based on this, a few comments:

    (1) you eat a lot of fruit so will be over. You might prefer to switch fiber for sugar (you want to be at or over fiber) or simply use the tool to see how much added sugar you are getting and keep that to under 10% (30 g) or 5% (15 g).

    (2) your breakfast includes yogurt, which if plain has intrinsic sugar. If it's flavored it might have added sugar. Your snack has high sugar fruits, which again are the reason for the high sugar number, but I'd check to see if the snack mix thing also has added sugar.

    (3) Although I don't think the fruit is an issue so far, your diet does look pretty unbalanced just based on breakfast and lunch (which is no biggie, lots of people eat higher carb/lower protein in the morning). If you plan to have more vegetables and protein and perhaps fat (your fat might not be too low if full fat yogurt and some nuts, as it seems) in subsequent meals, ignore this. Rather than worrying about sugar, I'd try to hit protein, fiber, and your fat number, and also make sure the day had several servings of veg. But fruit is not a problem (quite the opposite) so long as it's not crowding out other foods you need.
  • RelCanonical
    RelCanonical Posts: 3,882 Member
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    I'll second the recommendation for switching your stat in MFP from sugar to fiber since you eat a lot of fruit. The recommendation is kind of more for added sugar, but like mentioned above, it's hard to distinguish so all sugar gets counted. Since the benefit of eating fruit is in it's fiber and micronutrients, fiber will be a better indicator of how nutritiously you're eating. If fiber is low (but doubtful considering your intake), then you would want to consider making changes to increase fiber.
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
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    Why do you feel you need to reduce the amount of sugar you eat? Have you been advised to do so by a doctor due to a medical condition? If you have not, and you feel satisfied in your current diet, you do not need to monitor or control for sugar.

    Sugar does not directly cause any of the health problems that are commonly associated with it. What causes those health problems is obesity. It is true that when left uncontrolled, the average person may eat more when they have a diet high in added sugar than when they don't. That can cause obesity, which can cause health problems. But if you are counting and monitoring your overall calorie intake, and you are staying within your calorie goal, then sugar is not causing an issue for you and you are fine to have as much of it as you want (within reason, as if you have too much of it, that means you are not getting enough of other things your body needs. But this is true for a lot of things, not just sugar).

    You eat a diet high in fruits and yogurts, which means while you are eating sugars, you are also getting a lot of nutrients along with them, so in that case, you are not crowding them out with your sugar intake.

    So if I were you, I wouldn't worry about it so much. I'd just make sure to add some protein into your diet at dinner.
  • HereToLose50
    HereToLose50 Posts: 154 Member
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    I think the whole sugar scare is the result of so many pre-prepared food items being completely bogged down with sweeteners nowadays. In some cases I'm baffled why a sweetener is even in a product at all.

    Eating fruit (with the benefits of fiber and various nutrients) and other naturally occurring sugars more often than the packaged sweets shouldn't be a big deal at all unless you have a medical reason to limit all sugar.

    Before anyone woos me, I'm not saying stay away from anything 😋.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,058 Member
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    I went over the MFP default sugar goal every day during weight loss. At the time, the only added sugar I ate most days was a tiny bit of concentrated fruit juice well down the ingredient list in my daily 30-calorie tablespoon of all-fruit spread. The rest was from whole fruits and the inherent sugar in no-sugar-added dairy foods. Overall, I was hitting my protein and fat minimums, and eating plenty of veggies.

    Solution to my "sugar crisis"? Stopped tracking sugar, tracked fiber instead. Lost weight just fine, around 50 pounds in less than a year.

    I'm with Lemur (as usual ;) ): Worry about getting the right nutrients into your eating, within calorie goal. In that context, wherever sugar ends up will be just fine.