Sugar-Lets be honest!

Ashbee1224
Ashbee1224 Posts: 65
edited October 4 in Food and Nutrition
I have read so many posts about sugar, and whether or not MFP's guidelines should be followed. The topic of natural vs. refined sugars has come up and most ppl are saying as long as they are natural sugars then dont worry about it. Ive done a lil research and everything I've read has said sugar is sugar, doesn't matter if its from something natural like fruit or if it's plain old granulated sugar, your body recognizes it all the same! Are we just lying to ourselves to make us feel better about eating so much sugar? I admit it's hard to keep track because it seems EVERYTHING has sugar in it but isn't it going to hinder weightloss in the end? Would love to hear your thoughts on it!
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Replies

  • hcf006
    hcf006 Posts: 4
    If sugar is sugar then I agree, but overall if you are looking for something sweet to eat...fruit would be the way to go!! Great post and I definitely agree mam :)
  • yeaforme
    yeaforme Posts: 48
    Thank you for posting this.
  • sc1572
    sc1572 Posts: 2,309 Member
    I stopped tracking sugar because most of mine comes from fruit!
  • SergeantSunshine_reused
    SergeantSunshine_reused Posts: 5,382 Member
    sugar is just a carbohydrate. Whats the big deal?

    If you are in a calorie deficit you will lose weight.

    And why give up fruit/mil/yogurt just because of sugar? You know those things have a good amount of vitamins right?
    Health is important, not just weight loss.
  • Ashbee1224
    Ashbee1224 Posts: 65
    I never said I was giving up fruit, but you can still eat it in smaller amounts and not go over your sugar.
  • Arabian♥Breeze
    Arabian♥Breeze Posts: 323
    bump
  • Leanne1795
    Leanne1795 Posts: 186
    I am diabetic and I promise you, sugar is sugar!
  • SergeantSunshine_reused
    SergeantSunshine_reused Posts: 5,382 Member
    I never said I was giving up fruit, but you can still eat it in smaller amounts and not go over your sugar.

    I get 70g of sugar from fruit some days. I still don't see the problem with going over in sugar?
  • Jameshuynh82
    Jameshuynh82 Posts: 2
    Hi there, just replying to the whole sugar thing, whether its sucrose, fructose, glucose, dextrose, any form of sugar your body will store it as fat if it isnt burnt off during the day. If you are trying to get abs or lose fat in general then sugar should be consumed in very small amounts, only from fruit. No refined sugar since that is empty calories and has no nutrional benefit whatsoever. keep fruit to a minimum of about one fruit a week. Thats what i've discovered from years or reading bodybuilding magazines and consulting with friends in the fitness industry. Just thought i'd post this, hope it helps. sugar really is the enemy, even more so that fat.
  • Ashbee1224
    Ashbee1224 Posts: 65
    I also still eat yogurt, i found dannon light & fit with only 2g. of sugar and transitioned to soy milk that has WAAAAY less than regular milk. I realize health is important hence why you shouldnt go so far over on sugar because that is not healthy.
  • SergeantSunshine_reused
    SergeantSunshine_reused Posts: 5,382 Member
    I also still eat yogurt, i found dannon light & fit with only 2g. of sugar and transitioned to soy milk that has WAAAAY less than regular milk. I realize health is important hence why you shouldnt go so far over on sugar because that is not healthy.

    And why isn't it healthy? So i should limit my fruit, which would decrease my sugar, and decrease the vitamins I am getting from the fruit.

    Once again its just a carbohydrate.
  • Ashbee1224
    Ashbee1224 Posts: 65
    Well the problem on going over on sugar is if you have left over sugar that your body cant use for energy it's going to store it as fat and that defeats the whole purpose.
  • Ashbee1224
    Ashbee1224 Posts: 65
    You can get vitamins from other things than fruit, right?
  • Jameshuynh82
    Jameshuynh82 Posts: 2
    and to reply to that person about sugar is just a carbohydrate, yes it is but not all carbs are created equal. there are high gi and low gi carbs, you'd best stick with low gi since it wont spike your insulin levels. insulin promotes muscle breakdown and fat storage. not a good combination
  • 202685tracy
    202685tracy Posts: 42 Member
    Yes, you are right sugar is sugar, however, fruit also has nutrients and fiber, which keep your insulin levels from spiking when you eat it. That being said, I have read various things that say keep your fruit intake to 2 servings a day. I try to choose berries when I am having fruit because they have less calories and sugar than other fruits. As far as MFP, I am always over the sugar grams that they recommend. I don't stress over it.
  • bluebird321
    bluebird321 Posts: 733 Member
    lots of books out there regarding sugar and health--reading them made me decide the less sugar in my body, the better.
  • hcf006
    hcf006 Posts: 4
    I think people should do their research and not just depend on what they hear on MFP.....
  • SergeantSunshine_reused
    SergeantSunshine_reused Posts: 5,382 Member
    Well the problem on going over on sugar is if you have left over sugar that your body cant use for energy it's going to store it as fat and that defeats the whole purpose.

    Completely wrong. If you are in a calorie deficit you think you are going to store fat from sugar? No.

    And yes other things have vitamins obviously :P but what are you replacing this with then? Once again 70+ grams of sugar for me some days and I sure am not storing fat
  • SergeantSunshine_reused
    SergeantSunshine_reused Posts: 5,382 Member
    and to reply to that person about sugar is just a carbohydrate, yes it is but not all carbs are created equal. there are high gi and low gi carbs, you'd best stick with low gi since it wont spike your insulin levels. insulin promotes muscle breakdown and fat storage. not a good combination

    *sigh* gi is not a big deal when in a calorie deficit. Muscle break down? Really? xD
  • fteale
    fteale Posts: 5,310 Member
    I go over on sugar every day, pretty much entirely from fruit, and I had no problems reaching and exceeding my goals, so I don't think sugar, certainly not natural sugar are evil.
  • bluebird321
    bluebird321 Posts: 733 Member
    You can get vitamins from other things than fruit, right?

    you man like vegetables which are much lower in sugar? Yup.
  • MikeSEA
    MikeSEA Posts: 1,074 Member
    I guess it depends on what you mean by "sugar." Sucrose is sucrose and fructose is fructose, etc. There's still research being done on whether or not highly processed (refined) sugars like HFCS actually get shunted to the liver without being broken down. The theory being that the subsequent process would then prompt insulin resistance.

    It'll be interesting to see how future research comes along.
  • kmbrooks15
    kmbrooks15 Posts: 941 Member
    My take on it is that, yes, sugar is sugar. But, sugar in a cake or cookies is pretty much empty calories (no nutritional value). Sugar in fruit, to me, is more allowable because of the nutrients in the fruit.

    I'm not really monitoring sugar too much because I'm getting almost all of it from fruit or milk, which have other nutritional values. To each his own...
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,207 Member
    Whether the body recognizes all sugar as sugar is not taking into account the requirements on the body to metabolise sugar. Nutrients that are attached to the matrix of the sugar source, like fruit, veg, dairy etc help in the absorption process. Refined sugar on the other hand are void of any micro nutritional value and the body will use it's existing stores of these nutrients to help with that absorption, and the reason refined sugar is referred to an anti-nutrient. Keep in mind that it's about balance and if someone is not overconsuming in general and their total caloric intake of refined sugars is not a high number % wise of their total carb intake, then sugar of any type is going to be used as energy (atp) and won't pose a problem, medical conditions aside.
  • AmerTunsi
    AmerTunsi Posts: 655 Member
    I personally don't think it is a debate between granulated sugar and fruit sugars. I think it is a debate between artificial sugars (splenda) and more naturals ones from fruits or even granulated sugar. There have been studies that shows that the body does not recognize artificial sweeteners as sugar and thus the body processes and stores it as fat. There are also other medical concerns with artificial sweeteners ranging from cancer to adjusting our taste buds and how it effects satiety. I have a family of doctors and they have said that only if you are a diabetic should you be taking in artificial sweeteners and that it is better for your body to simply have the real sugars in moderation. For example drinking regular coke instead of diet coke because diet coke is made with artificial sweeteners. Now, having sad that I still have a hard time opting for the regular sugars simply because of the calorie count.
  • Ashbee1224
    Ashbee1224 Posts: 65
    I dont understand what my calorie deficit has to do with my sugar intake? Too much sugar whether from fruit or a candy bar cant be good for you and those limitations have been put there for a reason. Obviously fruit is better than a candy bar because fruit has much more nutritional value but too much sugar from either cant be good.
  • joejccva71
    joejccva71 Posts: 2,985 Member
    Well the problem on going over on sugar is if you have left over sugar that your body cant use for energy it's going to store it as fat and that defeats the whole purpose.

    Complete nonsense. It will not be stored as fat. Where do some of you folks get this stuff from? Dr Oz right?
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,207 Member
    I dont understand what my calorie deficit has to do with my sugar intake? Too much sugar whether from fruit or a candy bar cant be good for you and those limitations have been put there for a reason. Obviously fruit is better than a candy bar because fruit has much more nutritional value but too much sugar from either cant be good.
    It appears for you that sugar is bad regardless of the responses you got......what did you want to hear?
  • _GlaDOS_
    _GlaDOS_ Posts: 1,520 Member
    Please read this: http://tinyurl.com/3oq3a7m

    Page D5-21 might be of particular interest.

    Edit: And continue on to read about sugar sweetened foods and beverages.
  • infamousmk
    infamousmk Posts: 6,033 Member
    I eat fruits and cookies and I don't much worry about it. And please don't call me sugar.
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