Natural Sugar vs. Refined Sugar

Unless you have a health-related reason to limit your sugar (like diabetes), I wouldn't worry about tracking sugar. Sugar is a carb, and I assume you are also tracking carbs? Stay within your carb macro, keep eating your fruit and don't worry about the sugar number.

I never tracked sugar, but I am sure I went over every single day - eating fruit, milk, veggies, etc. It didn't seem to hinder my weight loss at all.

I have similar problems. Berries are a good alternative to certain sugar packed fruits like apples and bananas but obviously you shouldn't worry about completely cutting fruit out of your diet! And obviously the health benefits of fruit vs processed sugar are infinite...

Unless you have a health-related reason to limit your sugar (like diabetes), I wouldn't worry about tracking sugar. Sugar is a carb, and I assume you are also tracking carbs? Stay within your carb macro, keep eating your fruit and don't worry about the sugar number.

^ This.

Fruit really isn't that great for you just because of the sugar. I lost about 40 pounds a while back by eating a very strict diet that cut sugar out almost completely. I couldn't even eat carrots because of their sugar content.

So, long story short, sugar is sugar for the most part (unless it High Fructose Corn Syrup... then it's the devil)

fruit is great for you! it's packed with all kinds of vitamins and anti oxidants!

Fruit really isn't that great for you just because of the sugar. I lost about 40 pounds a while back by eating a very strict diet that cut sugar out almost completely. I couldn't even eat carrots because of their sugar content.

So, long story short, sugar is sugar for the most part (unless it High Fructose Corn Syrup... then it's the devil)

And sugar is just a carb which has 4 caloires per gram, as long as you stay withing your carb limit, the type of carb does not matter that much, and you get many other benefits from fruit, such as fiber, vitamins and minerals that you don't get with a lot of other carbs.

Natural sugar is good for you. Refined, white, processed sugar is different from fruit sugars, and your body processes it differently too (from my understanding).

Fruit is VERY good for you. It's a wonderful source of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and natural sugar.

Unless you're eating packets of donuts, cake, cookies, ice cream.. I wouldn't worry about your sugar.

If the fruit isn't stopping you from losing weight then enjoy it.

If the weight loss comes to a stop it might be worth cutting back or eliminating it to see if it jumpstarts the weight loss again.

The fructose in fruit and the fructose in table sugar or HFCS are the same. The difference is you are eating fruit which is a whole food (with hundreds of other elements and compounds and nutrients that we don't know about - all working together to make that food healthier for you).
Table sugar and HFCS are very refined and HFCS is extracted from corn using chemical solvents.
But the body processes all fructose the same regardless of where it comes from - it goes to the liver and is converted into saturated fat and stored (too much fructose over the years can lead to NAFLD - Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease).

I can't eat a lot of fruit. It will spike my blood sugar too high. I look for low-sugar fruit like berries. They're my fave, anyways. I'm a thin pre-diabetic. If you have diabetes in your family then be very careful with fruit, too.

But I'm sure most people won't agree with this.

Fruit is a nutirious part of your diet. They are packed full of vitamins, minerals and fibre and can be a good defense against chronic disease (I am not a professional, but my good friend is a dietician and she always preaches the benefits of eating fruit--within reason!) You can research and see what fruits are higher in sugar (grapes, bananas, mangos, etc.) and maybe limit that to one a day, however if you are seeing results I wouldn't worry about it. What I do, because my sugar is always in the red on my diary, is that I mentally do not take into account the sugar from fruits. It makes me feel better, because I hate seeing red too!

Here's a good blog article about the differences between refined sugars and fruit sugars.
I found this very helpful as i have a similar issue.

http://jeremyfulloflife.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/fruit-sugar-vs-refined-sugar.html

Natural sugar is good for you. Refined, white, processed sugar is different from fruit sugars, and your body processes it differently too (from my understanding).

Fruit is VERY good for you. It's a wonderful source of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and natural sugar.

Unless you're eating packets of donuts, cake, cookies, ice cream.. I wouldn't worry about your sugar.

Actually, both sugars are exactly the same, regardless of source. Glucose, fructose, and sucrose are exactly the same as far as your body is concerned, whether it's from an apple or a Snickers bar.

meh.

This is in reference to the comment regarding all sugar being processed the same. I believe it is an inaccurate statement based on the below listed link.

the link makes assertions without backing them up, the glucose and fructose from a sucrose molecule grown in sugar cane or sugar beet is the same as that from the sucrose in an orange or other fruit, or the glucose and fructose in fruits.

So if you have an issue with say fructose and its mechanics in the body, then that applies to fructose whatever the vehicle, to quote Lustig. We seldom encounter fructose on its own, or indeed sugar, so one should look at meals rather than molecules.

Fruit comes with some fibre and a few vitamins but broccoli etc have a lot more.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1017237-so-what-s-with-this-sugar-then-faq

The sugar thing comes up multiple times per week, a search will yield all you want to know and then some....below is a re-post from a couple of days ago where I replied to the question about sugar....from fruit or otherwise...


Here's the thing....if you have Diabetes in your family history, mom, dad, uncles, aunts, cousins...anyone, your chances for needing to track sugar go up.

If you don't have anyone in your family with these sorts of issues, then it's widely held on MFP that you can eat what you want as long as the ultimate caloric goal is within your targets.

Personally, when I was diagnosed with blood sugar issues, the first thing I said was 'but I don't go over my sugar allotment'. However, that's not where the problem lay. The issue is the combination of sugar & carbs can overload a system that is already predisposed genetically to be precarious.

For me, it came together due to the high incidence of T2 Diabetes in my family, and the fact that I had gestational diabetes when I was pregnant with my last child 17 yrs ago. This was further complicated by the shame of the old mindset that 'you ate your way to diabetes' which kept my family members from discussing it, so I never knew....that is....until I was diagnosed & began talking to my aunts & uncles only to find they were all diabetic

Knowing that there is a strong genetic component, I'm now aware that for my children, 17 and 24, at some time in the future when they reach about middle age, there are certain markers they need to look for.

Wish I knew all of this before. To be diagnosed with T2D at 44 is a tough row to hoe considering that though it's not necessarily preventable, but knowing would've lessened the burden & I may have been able to remain subclinical vs full blown, nonreversible,T2 diabetic well into my 60's. Once upon a time, just a generation or so ago, this was a geriatric disorder, not something prevalent at the middle aged stage of life.

Check your family history before you start watching sugar+carbs

ETA: the body does not differentiate between sugar from candy, cake, bread or pasta vs. sugar from fruit...though if you do not have a family hx of this disorder, all the sugar consumption in the world will NOT give you diabetes.