Added vs natural sugars
carana69
Posts: 10 Member
How do you all keep track of natural sugar intake vs. added sugar intake daily?
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Replies
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I don't. I'm losing consistently and happy with my results so far.5
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How do you all keep track of natural sugar intake vs. added sugar intake daily?
I don't, but you might be able to keep a running total of one or the other in the food notes section as you log. Tracking it somehow in your actual entries would be tedious as most entries were entered before it was an option and many foods will have a bit of both.
I personally have found that if I focus on hitting my fruit & veggie serving goals, plus my fiber, protein, and fat goals, there is no room for an excess of added sugar without blowing past my calories. And tracking positive rather than negative goals (more of this rather than less of that) is better for my mindset. :drinker:. So I don't track it.6 -
I don't. I just ate a piece of cake with natural sugar. I mean, cakes are born containing sugar, right?11
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I don't, I don't need to regulally track any kind of sugar and never have, it's simply not important or significant to me. I swapped it out for tracking fibre instead which was of more interest.
The only time I eat a lot of sugar is when I'm cycling long distances and need to maximise my sugar intake (glucose/fructose mix) for performance and endurance.
Why is it of interest to you OP? Would help enormously with targetted advice if people knew the why behind the question.2 -
I don't either. The body breaks down sugar (processed or natural) the same way and is absorbed the same way.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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In 2019 and 2020 I challenged myself to the WHO recommendation of limiting added sugar (which they call "free sugars") to under 5% for 4 weeks.
I created a spreadsheet - cannot be done within MFP as there is no category for this and food manufacturers were only recently required to list this on labels. I was able to get the info I needed from the labels.
Here's the Challenge thread created for this by @lemurcat12:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10769530/30-day-logging-limiting-added-sugar-challenge/p1
https://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2015/sugar-guideline/en/
4 MARCH 2015 ¦ GENEVA - A new WHO guideline recommends adults and children reduce their daily intake of free sugars to less than 10% of their total energy intake. A further reduction to below 5% or roughly 25 grams (6 teaspoons) per day would provide additional health benefits.
Guideline on sugars intake for adult and children
Free sugars refer to monosaccharides (such as glucose, fructose) and disaccharides (such as sucrose or table sugar) added to foods and drinks by the manufacturer, cook or consumer, and sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates.4 -
I always have a set limit (in grams) for sugar that I try to stay under. I try to get at least half of my sugar from naturally occurring sources like fruit and vegetable. The other half I will get from breads, treats, or processed foods in general. My main goal with sugar consumption is to limit overall sugar regardless if it is natural or added. I have learned over time the less sugar I eat, the less inflammation and divestive issues I have. I still go out of the way to consume sugar though, because I enjoy foods that have it. I will first try to eat fruits and vegetables, and with remaining sugar for the day I will eat what I want. This method works for me and I have found it to be conducive to losing weight and being healthier.1
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I've found that I rarely eat added sugar in any meaningful amount unless I know it (I mostly cook from whole foods), so I don't keep track. I eat foods with added sugar (specifically, sweets desserts, rarely enough these days, since I just don't seem to have much of a sweet tooth anymore).
Initially, though, I logged, looked at the source of my sugar, and figured it out. (It's harder if you eat something with some added and some intrinsic sugar, but other than a few hot sauces with an insignificant amt of sugar anyway, I don't really eat much of that sort of thing.)
If you think you are consuming lots of added sugar, it is worth eyeballing and trying to estimate to see, and easier to do these days as (in the US, anyway) the labels will have that information. You can add it in the notes box when logging.3 -
Another one who doesn't monitor either natural or added/free sugars. That said, my day to day consumption of "free sugars" is pretty nominal. The only sweets I really eat are deserts after dinner which are very reasonable in serving size. I get some sugars from condiments and the like...but again, it's a negligible amount.4
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I don't, I don't need to regulally track any kind of sugar and never have, it's simply not important or significant to me. I swapped it out for tracking fibre instead which was of more interest.
The only time I eat a lot of sugar is when I'm cycling long distances and need to maximise my sugar intake (glucose/fructose mix) for performance and endurance.
Why is it of interest to you OP? Would help enormously with targetted advice if people knew the why behind the question.
I am studying to be a Certified Dietary Manager and was just curious as to how this would be tracked. I know that according to dietary guidelines women should have no more than 24 grams and men no more than 36 grams a day of added sugar.0 -
I don't either. The body breaks down sugar (processed or natural) the same way and is absorbed the same way.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Thank you this is significant knowledge for my education in the Dietary field
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I don't, I don't need to regulally track any kind of sugar and never have, it's simply not important or significant to me. I swapped it out for tracking fibre instead which was of more interest.
The only time I eat a lot of sugar is when I'm cycling long distances and need to maximise my sugar intake (glucose/fructose mix) for performance and endurance.
Why is it of interest to you OP? Would help enormously with targetted advice if people knew the why behind the question.
I am studying to be a Certified Dietary Manager and was just curious as to how this would be tracked. I know that according to dietary guidelines women should have no more than 24 grams and men no more than 36 grams a day of added sugar.
I think it's worth looking beyond the guidelines to work out what the guidelines are trying to achieve.
Bearing in mind tracking and recording intake is a very much a minority niche IMHO the guidelines are trying to use added sugar as a blunt instrument to influence the general population towards improving their overall diet and reducing their overall calorie intake. "Eat better, eat less" wouldn't give people anything tangible to work on.
A bit like the low fat push in the 1980's (?) - was it the fat that was the problem or was it a (failed!) attempt to turn the tide of a growing obesity problem by targeting the most calorie dense macro?
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I don't, I don't need to regulally track any kind of sugar and never have, it's simply not important or significant to me. I swapped it out for tracking fibre instead which was of more interest.
The only time I eat a lot of sugar is when I'm cycling long distances and need to maximise my sugar intake (glucose/fructose mix) for performance and endurance.
Why is it of interest to you OP? Would help enormously with targetted advice if people knew the why behind the question.
I am studying to be a Certified Dietary Manager and was just curious as to how this would be tracked. I know that according to dietary guidelines women should have no more than 24 grams and men no more than 36 grams a day of added sugar.
The US dietary guidelines say no more than 10% of total cals from added sugar, and the WHO guidelines the same, with a further recommendation to stay below 5% if possible, not specific gram amounts. The reasoning given is because added sugar can lead to excess cals (in part because it is often combined with fat) or if not may crowd out other nutrients. Thus, I'd say that if one's cals are not excess and one is getting in sufficient other nutrients (I log at Cron and can see this easily), focusing on added sugar is probably overrated.
The 24 gram # seems to be 5% of 1920 cals, and the 36 g # is 5% of 2880 cal. It looks like those numbers are from the AHA, and are supposed to be about 50% of estimated discretionary calories (which I'm not convinced is a great approach).
I intentionally do limit added sugar (not by counting it, but by limiting the amount of foods I eat with lots of added sugar, which is generally easy for me, my temptations are otherwise), but I think focusing on the amount of added sugar specifically, is a reverse of the approach I'd take. I'd focus on what the diet SHOULD include, and then using the (limited) cals left as desired. The reason I prefer that approach, is at MFP I've often seen people who obsess about not eating foods they define as bad, but who continue to have diets low in other important foods (maybe sources of protein or healthy fats or, most often, vegetables and/or fiber).4 -
I don't, I don't need to regulally track any kind of sugar and never have, it's simply not important or significant to me. I swapped it out for tracking fibre instead which was of more interest.
The only time I eat a lot of sugar is when I'm cycling long distances and need to maximise my sugar intake (glucose/fructose mix) for performance and endurance.
Why is it of interest to you OP? Would help enormously with targetted advice if people knew the why behind the question.
I am studying to be a Certified Dietary Manager and was just curious as to how this would be tracked. I know that according to dietary guidelines women should have no more than 24 grams and men no more than 36 grams a day of added sugar.
The US dietary guidelines say no more than 10% of total cals from added sugar, and the WHO guidelines the same, with a further recommendation to stay below 5% if possible, not specific gram amounts. The reasoning given is because added sugar can lead to excess cals (in part because it is often combined with fat) or if not may crowd out other nutrients. Thus, I'd say that if one's cals are not excess and one is getting in sufficient other nutrients (I log at Cron and can see this easily), focusing on added sugar is probably overrated.
The 24 gram # seems to be 5% of 1920 cals, and the 36 g # is 5% of 2880 cal. It looks like those numbers are from the AHA, and are supposed to be about 50% of estimated discretionary calories (which I'm not convinced is a great approach).
I intentionally do limit added sugar (not by counting it, but by limiting the amount of foods I eat with lots of added sugar, which is generally easy for me, my temptations are otherwise), but I think focusing on the amount of added sugar specifically, is a reverse of the approach I'd take. I'd focus on what the diet SHOULD include, and then using the (limited) cals left as desired. The reason I prefer that approach, is at MFP I've often seen people who obsess about not eating foods they define as bad, but who continue to have diets low in other important foods (maybe sources of protein or healthy fats or, most often, vegetables and/or fiber).
Every word of this is gold, IMO.
Since OP has revealed herself to be an aspiring dietary manager, I'd encourage that she also consider the more squishy psychological side of this: It's usually easiest to break an undesired habit by replacing it with a new and more helpful habit, not by trying to break the bad habit through white-knuckled sheer will power.
On top of that, I suspect that framing change as "get rid of bad behavior" holds more potential for bringing guilt and shame into the emotional responses when bumps in the road occur, as they tend to do along the way. I think guilt and shame are very unhelpful in this context, and can be one toe onto the path toward a worse relationship with food.
Particularly in a context of food logging and calorie counting, improving nutrition is a practical problem to be solved: "I see I'm low on protein, what less desirable-to-me high-calorie foods could I reduce to make room for more?" seems more readily actionable than "I ate too much sugar, how do I cut that out?"6 -
I don't, I don't need to regulally track any kind of sugar and never have, it's simply not important or significant to me. I swapped it out for tracking fibre instead which was of more interest.
The only time I eat a lot of sugar is when I'm cycling long distances and need to maximise my sugar intake (glucose/fructose mix) for performance and endurance.
Why is it of interest to you OP? Would help enormously with targetted advice if people knew the why behind the question.
I am studying to be a Certified Dietary Manager and was just curious as to how this would be tracked. I know that according to dietary guidelines women should have no more than 24 grams and men no more than 36 grams a day of added sugar.
The US dietary guidelines say no more than 10% of total cals from added sugar, and the WHO guidelines the same, with a further recommendation to stay below 5% if possible, not specific gram amounts. The reasoning given is because added sugar can lead to excess cals (in part because it is often combined with fat) or if not may crowd out other nutrients. Thus, I'd say that if one's cals are not excess and one is getting in sufficient other nutrients (I log at Cron and can see this easily), focusing on added sugar is probably overrated.
The 24 gram # seems to be 5% of 1920 cals, and the 36 g # is 5% of 2880 cal. It looks like those numbers are from the AHA, and are supposed to be about 50% of estimated discretionary calories (which I'm not convinced is a great approach).
I intentionally do limit added sugar (not by counting it, but by limiting the amount of foods I eat with lots of added sugar, which is generally easy for me, my temptations are otherwise), but I think focusing on the amount of added sugar specifically, is a reverse of the approach I'd take. I'd focus on what the diet SHOULD include, and then using the (limited) cals left as desired. The reason I prefer that approach, is at MFP I've often seen people who obsess about not eating foods they define as bad, but who continue to have diets low in other important foods (maybe sources of protein or healthy fats or, most often, vegetables and/or fiber).
Every word of this is gold, IMO.
Since OP has revealed herself to be an aspiring dietary manager, I'd encourage that she also consider the more squishy psychological side of this: It's usually easiest to break an undesired habit by replacing it with a new and more helpful habit, not by trying to break the bad habit through white-knuckled sheer will power.
On top of that, I suspect that framing change as "get rid of bad behavior" holds more potential for bringing guilt and shame into the emotional responses when bumps in the road occur, as they tend to do along the way. I think guilt and shame are very unhelpful in this context, and can be one toe onto the path toward a worse relationship with food.
Particularly in a context of food logging and calorie counting, improving nutrition is a practical problem to be solved: "I see I'm low on protein, what less desirable-to-me high-calorie foods could I reduce to make room for more?" seems more readily actionable than "I ate too much sugar, how do I cut that out?"
I'm very fond of "improving nutrition is a practical problem to be solved."
I've reduced saturated fat to help a medical condition. If a dietitian had told me, "You must not eat cheese or red meat" I would have rebelled. But while logging on MFP I can see my sat fat target, see which foods are high in it, and use my own agency to decide what to eat.
I am eating very very little cheese and red meat these days, but I'm not unhappy about it as it came about through my own problem solving rather than someone else's rules.7 -
I'm just starting to track my added sugars.
I created a separate meal category called 'natural sugars' and I list all fruits, veggies, milk, plain yogurt (no sugar added) etc. in this category. I subtract the sugar total of this 'meal' from my overall sugar consumption to come up with how many grams of added sugar I'm consuming.
It messes up my calorie counting by meal but controlling my sugar monster is more important to me right now :-).0 -
I'm not understanding how it affects your cal counting. If you just subtract the sugars, your cals would be the same, no?
Also, be aware that of course there are non whole foods that have a mix of intrinsic and added sugar. US labels should now make that clear (not sure if Canadian do).0
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