Sugar line item in nutrition section of daily diary
Westfit2015
Posts: 4 Member
In the Diary (Nutrition section), how does it determine the # of grams of sugars for the daily goal? It appears to increase during the day, especially when I exercise. A related question: Is getting the sugar target that is the default number of grams (usually increases during the day) a good target if I am trying to get my blood sugar down, or should I use some other number? (Lab tests at my physical said my blood sugar was slightly elevated ("Pre Diabetic" level) and that I need to get it lowered. Thank you!
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Replies
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The food diary logs all sugars, including those from fructose and lactose. So they are all in one category.
If you are concerned with only "added" sugars, you'll have to do side calculations. There are guidelines on Diabetes.org to give you guidance on what that amount of added sugars and natural sugars should be. Talk to your doctor, too.
As far as "increasing" as the day goes on, the carbs (and protein and fat) will go up if you exercise or if you exceed your Activity Level (if you're using a device.)
Sugars really shouldn't be going up. I don't track sugar, though, so you may be right. Set your own personal goal and know what that is.3 -
Thanks!1
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The sugar goal (which is kind of irrelevant) is 15% of total cals, so as cals go up (when you exercise), the sugar goal will increase.
The goal is all sugar, so for most people I'd say it's unimportant -- excessive added sugar is bad, but if the sugar is from fruit and veg and dairy and you are getting sufficient fiber and protein, who cares? But it's also not a goal but a limit -- no reason to try to meet it.3 -
cmriverside wrote: »The food diary logs all sugars, including those from fructose and lactose. So they are all in one category.
If you are concerned with only "added" sugars, you'll have to do side calculations. There are guidelines on Diabetes.org to give you guidance on what that amount of added sugars and natural sugars should be. Talk to your doctor, too.
As far as "increasing" as the day goes on, the carbs (and protein and fat) will go up if you exercise or if you exceed your Activity Level (if you're using a device.)
Sugars really shouldn't be going up. I don't track sugar, though, so you may be right. Set your own personal goal and know what that is.
Just jumping in to add to the bolded: Keep in mind that the database represents about 15 years of crowdsourced information, and (in the US) nutrition labels only started to break out "added sugar" from the total sugar in the last, like, 2 or 3 years. No one has gone through and updated all the old entries. Always check the label in your hand when it comes to packaged food; if the label and the database differ, go by what the label says.2 -
goal06082021 wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »The food diary logs all sugars, including those from fructose and lactose. So they are all in one category.
If you are concerned with only "added" sugars, you'll have to do side calculations. There are guidelines on Diabetes.org to give you guidance on what that amount of added sugars and natural sugars should be. Talk to your doctor, too.
As far as "increasing" as the day goes on, the carbs (and protein and fat) will go up if you exercise or if you exceed your Activity Level (if you're using a device.)
Sugars really shouldn't be going up. I don't track sugar, though, so you may be right. Set your own personal goal and know what that is.
Just jumping in to add to the bolded: Keep in mind that the database represents about 15 years of crowdsourced information, and (in the US) nutrition labels only started to break out "added sugar" from the total sugar in the last, like, 2 or 3 years. No one has gone through and updated all the old entries. Always check the label in your hand when it comes to packaged food; if the label and the database differ, go by what the label says.
We couldn't just "update" the old entries as the record format doesn't have a field for added sugar. Are you saying you want MFP to replace the identifier on the current "sugar" field with "added sugar" (and not have a total sugar field anymore?), and then have somebody go through all the entries? I don't understand. Where are they supposed to get the data for added sugar for generic/commodity/USDA-based entries?1 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »goal06082021 wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »The food diary logs all sugars, including those from fructose and lactose. So they are all in one category.
If you are concerned with only "added" sugars, you'll have to do side calculations. There are guidelines on Diabetes.org to give you guidance on what that amount of added sugars and natural sugars should be. Talk to your doctor, too.
As far as "increasing" as the day goes on, the carbs (and protein and fat) will go up if you exercise or if you exceed your Activity Level (if you're using a device.)
Sugars really shouldn't be going up. I don't track sugar, though, so you may be right. Set your own personal goal and know what that is.
Just jumping in to add to the bolded: Keep in mind that the database represents about 15 years of crowdsourced information, and (in the US) nutrition labels only started to break out "added sugar" from the total sugar in the last, like, 2 or 3 years. No one has gone through and updated all the old entries. Always check the label in your hand when it comes to packaged food; if the label and the database differ, go by what the label says.
We couldn't just "update" the old entries as the record format doesn't have a field for added sugar. Are you saying you want MFP to replace the identifier on the current "sugar" field with "added sugar" (and not have a total sugar field anymore?), and then have somebody go through all the entries? I don't understand. Where are they supposed to get the data for added sugar for generic/commodity/USDA-based entries?
There seems to be a separate field for added sugar in the database now, and it seems to be enterable on the app (maybe not on the web). It doesn't show up on all pages/reports, though, I think, even if entered.
(I'm explicitly not questioning or commenting on other aspects of your post, just clarifying that the database field does seem to exist already.)
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Westfit2015 wrote: »In the Diary (Nutrition section), how does it determine the # of grams of sugars for the daily goal? It appears to increase during the day, especially when I exercise. A related question: Is getting the sugar target that is the default number of grams (usually increases during the day) a good target if I am trying to get my blood sugar down, or should I use some other number? (Lab tests at my physical said my blood sugar was slightly elevated ("Pre Diabetic" level) and that I need to get it lowered. Thank you!
The standard advice for diabetics is to count carbs (there are other points of view that have some science behind them) For your personal carb goal, you need to talk to a nutritionist.
Typically for an active man the advice is about 75 carbs 3X a day, with a 15 carb snack.
I am very inactive due to disability. And, of course, I am trying to lose some weight. So my max carbs per day is 150, which I never hit, and my absolute minimum is 100. That second number is very likely to be far too low for you, and most other people.
I assume you haven’t been given a blood glucose monitor yet, since you’re prediabetic. It might be a good idea to pick up a cheap one. Walmart has the ReliOn brand that’s decent. The monitor and enough strips to check which foods your body has an especially difficult time with should cost about $50.
Now, here’s the trick. Measure your BG when you wake up. Before you’ve had anything. That’s your baseline for the day. It should trend lower pretty quickly over the next month if you’re on the right path.
Blood sugar readings are not complex, but it is a bit to get used to.
Anyhow, measure right before you eat, and again about two hours after. If the two readings are similar, or the second is even lower, then whatever you had is not too bad for your BG. Different people react to different foods.
NOTE: Blood glucose below 50 is an emergency. Call 911. Do not drive. Eat a spoon of sugar, or anything sweet. Take your BG again in 20 minutes to see if it is back up. sorry. Don’t mean to scare you. Just had to make sure you knew that bit.
You’re already here logging everything you eat, so it shouldn’t be too hard to see pretty easily which foods work best for your particular body.
Getting some weight off helps most people. As does regular exercise.
And some foods are proven to help lower BS overall. Oatmeal is a fine example of this, but there are a few others.
I hope I have given you some ideas. Definitely let me know if you have any questions. Feel free to friend me if you wish.
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I don't know what food you add to your diary but I know from mine it is not accurate. Whoever the people are who fill in the macros they're all over the place! They vary for the exact same foods with the same weight depending on who (not that it tells you who) put them on there. Not reliable for sugars, salt, and even protein. I just take those with a grain of salt, if I ever need to monitor those I'd probably do it manually myself or use another app.0
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stealthette wrote: »I don't know what food you add to your diary but I know from mine it is not accurate. Whoever the people are who fill in the macros they're all over the place! They vary for the exact same foods with the same weight depending on who (not that it tells you who) put them on there. Not reliable for sugars, salt, and even protein. I just take those with a grain of salt, if I ever need to monitor those I'd probably do it manually myself or use another app.
Whoever entered the food entered it the way they wanted it or made mistakes.
The database is crowd-sourced other than some USDA whole foods that were migrated across from the USDA database when the developers created the site.
If you do an "edit" to an existing item OR if you create a new item, it is then entered the way you want it and will then be in your MY FOODS. Takes a little time up-front, but it's worth it.1
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