Sugar in fruit

I would like to ask a question.. every time I try to add fruit to my daily diet, it shows me that it is full of sugar. I don't eat a lot of carbs, fats or even Protein. I don't finish my portion but while trying to eat any fruit it shows that "I have reached my sugar percent" so what if I eat more than the daily percent, will it be bad while losong weight.
Thanks
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Replies

  • ayamourada92
    ayamourada92 Posts: 62 Member
    Well, I eat protein, carbs, vegetables. I don't like nuts but I like eating fruit. It makes me feel that I am not hungry. That's why I try to eat it a lot. It is also easy to be carried outdoors while working or so on. Actually, I like watermelon, apples, banana, peach.. so whatever the kind is, it is full of sugar! :neutral:
  • Speakeasy76
    Speakeasy76 Posts: 961 Member
    For most people, it's the added sugar that we need to be more cognizant of. I usually eat one large apple a day, plus anywhere from 1-3 other servings of fruit. I'll admit, when I see "You've reached your sugar intake for the day" after I add a fruit I get a bit annoyed, but it doesn't alter my plan to eat fruit.
  • whoami67
    whoami67 Posts: 297 Member
    I'd just ignore the sugar tracker. That said, I don't like fruit because my body doesn't react well to the type and amount of sugar in it. It causes me to be shaky and trembling, and it makes me hungrier. But for most people, I would think 1-3 servings of fruit per day would fit into a healthy diet.

    As for your claim that you don't eat much carbs, fat or protein...huh? All foods are carbs, fat or protein...or alcohol. Those are the only options.
  • westrich20940
    westrich20940 Posts: 865 Member
    Unless you have a health/medical reason to worry about your sugar intake...don't worry about it. MFP has default settings for macros -- you can change them if you like. Eating fruit is never a bad thing - unless some condition makes it bad.
  • dmkoenig
    dmkoenig Posts: 299 Member
    Take a look at this short video on the subject of Fructose in Fruit. https://nutritionfacts.org/video/flashback-friday-if-fructose-is-bad-what-about-fruit/
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,453 Member
    I always exceed my sugar. I eat ice cream everyday and dried mangos as well as gummy worms along with the fruit I eat (bananas and clementines are staples). Just gotta stay within your calories.


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  • kara1365
    kara1365 Posts: 2 Member
    hi all, i am having a similar issue with the sugar, i love my fruit and as my body is unable to hold potassium i eat a banana every day. These show that the sugar is very high, and i am trying to lower my prediabetic bloods from 43 to a reasonable range. But everywhere i read says to ignore the fructose readings as long as i am in the calorie range. I dont know how to do this, as i need to read the sugar intake?
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,879 Member
    kara1365 wrote: »
    hi all, i am having a similar issue with the sugar, i love my fruit and as my body is unable to hold potassium i eat a banana every day. These show that the sugar is very high, and i am trying to lower my prediabetic bloods from 43 to a reasonable range. But everywhere i read says to ignore the fructose readings as long as i am in the calorie range. I dont know how to do this, as i need to read the sugar intake?

    What is the 43? Normal blood sugar levels fasted for adults is less than 100 mg/dl. Pre-diabetic is 100-120...so I'm confused by 43 being a pre-diabetic reading.

    At any rate, the "as long as I am in the calorie range" thing is for weight loss and where sugar is a non issue for an otherwise healthy person. If you're diabetic you'll have to watch sugar, including sugar from fruit...as ultimately, sugar is sugar and your body does not in anyway differentiate sugar from things like fruit from other sources...it's all sugar to the body.

    I at one time had pre-diabetic numbers...my Dr. never told me to specifically watch sugar or carbs, he only mentioned that I would benefit from losing weight and particularly I would benefit from regular exercise.

    As potassium goes, bananas aren't quite the potassium powerhouse that some people seem to think...they aren't bad, but they certainly aren't the best source of potassium out there food wise. I'd also wonder if you have a condition which inhibits potassium absorption or something that you could get a prescription or supplement, particularly if your bloodwork shows deficiency. In that kind of situation I'd think a prescribed supplement would be far more efficient than trying to bump up your numbers with food...just something to maybe talk with your Dr. about.

    Keep in mind that most of us are just internet randos...many of us have had great success in losing weight, getting fit, and keeping weight off...but most of us aren't medical professionals and giving advice that pertains to medical issues outside of simply losing some weight isn't particularly kosher.
  • Strudders67
    Strudders67 Posts: 978 Member
    @cwolfman13 It's the numbering that's used here in the UK for a HbA1c test. Under 42mmol/mol is normal, 43-48 is pre-diabetic and anything above 48 is diabetic.


    @kara1365, I'm assuming you're trying to lose weight AND lower your blood sugar number, although it's feasible that you're logging your food just to track your sugar intake.

    I didn't find the Diabetes UK website particularly helpful and the diabetic nurse at my GP's surgery was worse than useless, but if you look for the Contact Us info on the Diabetes UK website and send them an email with your specific question, someone will reply.

    You may feel differently or be advised differently, and I may well be completely wrong on this point, but I don't worry about my sugar numbers when I'm tracking in MFP. I'm purely tracking carbs (which turn in to sugars). Once Diabetes UK confirmed that it's just 130g a day and that's not a figure for a 2000 cals a day diet, I aim to eat under that number per day. I was originally thinking I had to pro-rata the number, but I don't. I believe that in the US they suggest trying to keep below 150g carbs a day.

    When I was losing weight (I reached my target weight last March), the only thing that mattered was whether I was on target for my calories and not exceeding 130g of carbs a day. I got my numbers down from 60 in early 2018, to 38 in December 2020. I can't say whether it was because of the carbs restriction or because I lost almost 3 stone, but it was probably a combination of the two.

    Calories are all that matters for weight loss. Weight loss can definitely help with reducing blood sugar numbers, if you are overweight. Reducing carbs can also help lower your blood sugar.

    Three years after being diagnosed as diabetic, I finally got sent a booklet that would have been really useful to have read back in 2018; this says to continue eating fruit, but as part of a balanced diet.
  • kara1365
    kara1365 Posts: 2 Member
    @cwolfman13 @Strudders67 thanks both for the fast responses :) im not so worried about the weight to be honest, although a few kilos could come off, more interested in the sugars.

    A number of years ago i had surgery which removed 50% of my pancreas. It was this surgery that limited my ability to hold potassium and was advised at the time by the specialists to use bananas as they were the simplest answer to the problem, rather than taking medications.

    Now with the higher prediabetic number, i decided it would use MyFitnessPal to track my foods and see where i could do better. This is a precursor while i am waiting to see a specialist (to see if the pancreas is still creating insulin correctly).

    I saw this thread relating to sugars and thought i would see if there was anything more that this wonderful group had to offer in regards to sugars vs fruit sugar.

    I appreciate both your answers and will definitely have a look at the carbs. Thank you <3
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,718 Member
    kara1365 wrote: »
    @cwolfman13 @Strudders67 thanks both for the fast responses :) im not so worried about the weight to be honest, although a few kilos could come off, more interested in the sugars.

    A number of years ago i had surgery which removed 50% of my pancreas. It was this surgery that limited my ability to hold potassium and was advised at the time by the specialists to use bananas as they were the simplest answer to the problem, rather than taking medications.

    Now with the higher prediabetic number, i decided it would use MyFitnessPal to track my foods and see where i could do better. This is a precursor while i am waiting to see a specialist (to see if the pancreas is still creating insulin correctly).

    I saw this thread relating to sugars and thought i would see if there was anything more that this wonderful group had to offer in regards to sugars vs fruit sugar.

    I appreciate both your answers and will definitely have a look at the carbs. Thank you <3

    Have you looked at other potassium foods, too, I hope? I'm with Wolfman on this one: Bananas are not the best source, especially if trying to limit sugars (other foods have more potassium, and especially more potassium per calorie). Some foods with good potassium levels also have a fair amount of sugars/carbs (like sweet potatoes, watermelon, etc.), but others have fewer sugars and at least "slower" carbs (spinach, chard, white beans, black beans, white potatoes, more).
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,899 Member
    Yes, I believe a cup of broccoli has more potassium than a banana. I rarely eat bananas (just not my favorite fruit, although they are okay), and typically get plenty of potassium even eating kind of low carb, mostly through veg (beans are also good, as Ann says, and if you like coffee, it has some).

    That aside, you can include bananas in a diet aimed at lowering blood sugar. I think the issue is less about sugar (btw, fruit do not have a different kind of sugar, they have fructose (which is half of the sugar in sucrose) but also sucrose and glucose), but carbs and how much and what they are paired with. Usually the advise to people who are pre-D (other than losing weight if you have weight to lose) is to limit carbs per meal and pair them with fiber (bananas have fiber, but not as much as some other fruits) and protein. So maybe have half a banana on some plain greek yogurt with some nuts or seeds and then the other half with a different meal, something like that, if you enjoy the banana.

    The banana might not be an issue at all, though -- many people with blood sugar issues find it's pretty individual which carb sources cause spikes and which do not. Fruit typically is not considered something one should limit or avoid when pre-D, but also that assumes that you don't have a super fruit heavy diet (on the whole increasing fruit to the US recommendations tends to be related to positive outcomes, from what I've read, but that's because many people likely eat little fruit). Same with veg, of course.
  • CardinalComb
    CardinalComb Posts: 66 Member
    Most fruit is too high in sugar to be a healthy option. Berries are a good alternative.