Sugar in fruits

effieolsen · November 2019

This doesn't happen very often but maybe 2 times a week I end up going over my sugar limit by about 6-10 grams. My sugar limit is currently set at 87 grams a day and I'm finding it almost impossible to make that work for me. When I try to get the recommended amount of fruits in my diet for the day, that's when I end up going over on the sugar count. I don't want to gain weight but I also don't want to be afraid of eating fruit. Today I only had one banana and thought I should have another fruit since I only had that one so I had a bowl of grapes and now I'm 10g over. It's so frustrating. My goal is to maintain my weight, I don't want to lose or gain. Do you think these extra sugars coming from the fruits will make any negative impacts on my body? I workout 5 days a week, strength training and hiit for 1 hour. I don't eat artificial sugars.

MikePTY · November 2019

Do you have a medical condition that requires you to limit sugar? If not then the total amount of sugar you eat, natural or added, doesn't matter outside of its calorie count.

There is nothing special about sugar that will make you gain weight. A gram of sugar has 4 calories, just like a gram of complex carbs or protein. You will gain or lose weight based on how many calories you eat vs how many your body burns. That's it.

whmscll · November 2019

Eat the fruit! It’s healthy! Sugar in fruit (and sugar in general) has no negative impacts onyour body unless you have diabetes or another medical condition. If it fits in your maintenance calories, eat it. I generally ignore the sugar macro.

PAV8888 · November 2019

I am a bit confused.

How would the consumption of (presumably zero or low calorie) artificial sugars cause weight gain? And how would eating a small additional amount of intrinsic sugars *in the context of a caloric-ally controlled diet* cause weight gain?

There exist a number of recommendations for limiting total and free sugars. The ones I am aware off exist in the context of promoting the maintenance of a healthy weight and avoiding weight gain in the absence of calorie counting. They also exist in an attempt to limit the incidence of dental carries.

If your 6-10 grams of extra sugar directly caused you to eat an additional 24 to 40 Calories above your maintenance Calories, then yes, you will be in danger of gaining just about 1lb in about 100 days of consistently over-eating this way.

If you want to control your weight: control your calories.
If you are diabetic: follow your doctor's instruction on how to manage your disease.

amusedmonkey · November 2019

No it does not have a negative impact. In fact, it could have a positive impact on your workout performance. The only thing that directly affects weight is eating more calories than is required to maintain your weight at your current activity level. There is the possibility of impacting things indirectly, like being prone to overeating certain foods makes it easier to go over calories, but it circles back to calories in the end. Going over sugar is like going over a certain amino acid for protein or going over monosaturated fat for fat. There is no reason to be more alarmed by sugar than you would by protein or fat.

Orphia · November 2019

The World Health Organisation recommends only 5% of ADDED sugars, not sugars inherent in most foods, which all grow with sugar in them.

Fruit not only has sugars, but many vitamins and minerals, and fibre, all of which are essential to a healthy mind, body, and digestive system.

lynn_glenmont · November 2019

Orphia wrote: »

The World Health Organisation recommends only 5% of ADDED sugars, not sugars inherent in most foods, which all grow with sugar in them.

Fruit not only has sugars, but many vitamins and minerals, and fibre, all of which are essential to a healthy mind, body, and digestive system.

I don't worry about sugar calories (aside from not letting them crowd out foods I need for an overall nutritional diet), but unless we assume OP's calorie goal is close to 7,000 calories per day, their sugar limit of 87 g is not based on 5% of calories.

AnnPT77 · November 2019

I go over my MFP sugar goal pretty much every day, did so all during about a year of weight loss and around 4 years of maintenance since, the overwhelming majority of it from fruit, veggies, and no-sugar-added dairy foods (not added sugar).

Still was at BMI 22.2 this morning, a healthy weight. And I routinely hit my protein and fat goals, plus eat boatloads of veggies, so nutrition's fine.

If I exceed my calorie goal often, my weight starts to creep up. If I drop below my calorie goal routinely for a while, weight creeps down again. That part is all about calories. Sugar level doesn't matter. (I changed my MFP diary page to track fiber instead of sugar.)

You'll be fine, weight-wise, if calorie balance stays where it needs to be.

RelCanonical · November 2019

The recommendation is to reduce added sugar. This is because when people consumed added sugar, it was crowding out micronutrient and fiber dense foods like fruit. The limit is for added sugar but a label does not distinguish so you have to judge yourself how much is coming from fruit and vegetables (like carrots) and how much is added sugar in things like baked goods and cereals.

Carlos_421 · November 2019

If you don't have a medical reason to monitor sugar (diabetes), there's no reason to worry about it when you're already counting calories.
The recommendation to limit sugar is based on the idea that overeating sugar is a common cause of excess calories.
When counting calories, this becomes a pointless exercise.
Sugar itself doesn't cause fat gain or health problems.

Sugar in fruits

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