Total Nutrients for Day - Sugar

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afluckiger
afluckiger Posts: 2 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Why does my total Grams of Sugar for the day add up to more than each of my foods in my dairy??

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  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
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    How much more? If a tiny bit, likely just rounding.
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
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    It could be errors in database entries. The MFP database is user created, which means that some entries have errors or are outdated (i.e., the manufacturer changed the recipe). If you have a medical reason to track sugar, then you should double check all of the entries you use against the products' nutrition labels.
  • ZoneFive
    ZoneFive Posts: 570 Member
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    Also, a great many entries count inherent sugars (fructose, lactose) in fruits and vegetables and treat them the same as the added sugars (sucrose, glucose) in more processed foods. Most people only need to be concerned with added sugars, but the entries don't differentiate between them.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
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    I could be wrong, but my take was that OP was looking at her diary and seeing that the total for sugars was more than she got by just adding up the amounts shown for the individual foods.

    OP, can you clarify what you are asking?
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,020 Member
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    ZoneFive wrote: »
    Also, a great many entries count inherent sugars (fructose, lactose) in fruits and vegetables and treat them the same as the added sugars (sucrose, glucose) in more processed foods. Most people only need to be concerned with added sugars, but the entries don't differentiate between them.

    Not just "a great many entries." All MFP entries treadt inherent sugars the same as added sugars, because the MFP record format has no fields to distinguish between inherent and added sugars, which, in turn, is because the U.S. nutritional label format that the MFP record format was modeled on did not distinguish between inherent and added sugars.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
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    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    ZoneFive wrote: »
    Also, a great many entries count inherent sugars (fructose, lactose) in fruits and vegetables and treat them the same as the added sugars (sucrose, glucose) in more processed foods. Most people only need to be concerned with added sugars, but the entries don't differentiate between them.

    Not just "a great many entries." All MFP entries treadt inherent sugars the same as added sugars, because the MFP record format has no fields to distinguish between inherent and added sugars, which, in turn, is because the U.S. nutritional label format that the MFP record format was modeled on did not distinguish between inherent and added sugars.

    And to add to this, the MFP sugar limit is based on the understanding that both intrinsic and added sugar is included. It is the 10% recommendation plus an additional 5%, resulting in 15% of total calories. The added 5% of calories is based on an assumption that that roughly equals what a user gets from fruit, veg, dairy, etc., but of course could be way less than what a specific user gets from those foods. None of the recommended limits with credible backing relate to added + intrinsic sugars, but are added (free) sugar alone. What this means is that for many the sugar limit may not be especially useful.

    I found it interesting to see if I was getting sugar from surprising sources (since everyone insisted the US diet is full of "hidden sugars") and saw absolutely no surprises, personally. Thus, while I continued to track sugar since it was marginally more interesting than sodium, I found it more significant to look at whether I was getting sufficient protein, fat, and fiber, and to just make sure I wasn't kidding myself as to the source of my sugar.

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