Reasonable sugar intake goals

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AutumnAir
AutumnAir Posts: 15
in Food and Nutrition
Hi.

My sugar intake is set at 30 grams I think by default. Is that seriously all I should take in? Just seems unreasonable. I know sugar is poison for the most part but fruit naturally has it. So, a fruit salad could take up a whole day's worth of sugar and then if you eat one slice of bread or similar then BAM, you're over the 30 grams. What is YOUR sugar goal set as?

Replies

  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    I turned it off.

    The number is probably based on added sugars in processed foods. If you eat fruit you'll go over it, so either double the setting or drop it altogether.
  • RainontheTrainn
    RainontheTrainn Posts: 1
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    My calorie intake (1200) suggests I should have 24 grams of suger, which I tend to go way over. It adds up over meals :/ I dont see how it's possible to keep my suger intake that LOW, seems I'd only eat nothing but veggies! That isn't realistic :(
  • Debbiedebbiey
    Debbiedebbiey Posts: 824 Member
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    Tracking sugar was making me nuts so I switched to tracking sodium @&&#* !!!! Now there's a bubble popper! I was soo far over, i cut out deli meats, canned black beans, no wonder I was so bloated! As long as your eating decent, I'd switch that macro over to sodium. Right now my sugars ( if I was tracking) are bad bc we have lucky charms in the house :).
  • sugarbeans
    sugarbeans Posts: 676 Member
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    I have it as 30g but I don't really worry if I'm over. I will look at my diary for the day to determine if it's from too much processed/junk food or if it's a natural source and go from there.
    I do not really panic about it unless my week is full of processed stuff and then I reassess my journal and figure out what my stress levels were like during that week and try to adjust accordingly.
  • kristi5224
    kristi5224 Posts: 98 Member
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    I turned it off.

    The number is probably based on added sugars in processed foods. If you eat fruit you'll go over it, so either double the setting or drop it altogether.
    [/quote
    That's a great idea. Iwas just ignoring it. I eat a lot of fruit so i am always a little over.
  • AutumnAir
    AutumnAir Posts: 15
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    Thanks. I think I will double it for now since I really don't eat a lot of processed stuff.. I do almost entirely home-cooked meals and we eat mostly organic/all natural. I do go overboard on treats from time to time so I don't want to turn it off yet so I can keep myself in check. I already have sodium as one of my options and turned fiber off because I know I do good on fiber.

    Thanks all :-)
  • staceyanne1220
    staceyanne1220 Posts: 6 Member
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    I was concerned about my sugar too, I keep going over also. I found this article that was kind of helpful: http://www.livestrong.com/article/467744-daily-sugar-intake-based-on-a-1200-calorie-diet/, basically states that "As a general guideline, the American Heart Association recommends limited added sugars in your diet to no more than 50 percent of discretionary calories. That amounts to around 60 calories from added sugar, or less than 4 tsp., in a 1,200-calorie diet." Which is well over the 24 or 30 that the recommended settings allows on MFP. Hope that helps :smile:

    Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/467744-daily-sugar-intake-based-on-a-1200-calorie-diet/#ixzz21YE156FC
  • jr1985
    jr1985 Posts: 1,033 Member
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    Basically I try not to eat refined sugars, I try to eat as natural as possible, if I go over on my sugars from fruit then I go over my sugars from fruit and don't worry about it too much... and unless you have a family history of diabetes or hypoglycemia or something, you should be fine on whatever natural sugars you get too.
  • FitToBeFab
    FitToBeFab Posts: 537 Member
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    I have it as 30g but I don't really worry if I'm over. I will look at my diary for the day to determine if it's from too much processed/junk food or if it's a natural source and go from there.
    I do not really panic about it unless my week is full of processed stuff and then I reassess my journal and figure out what my stress levels were like during that week and try to adjust accordingly.

    ^^ Sound advice.
    I keep mine on just to see if I can ever go under - which I never do. But I take the time to review my diary and see if it's from fruit (which I LOVE) or other junk (like yogurt which I also love).

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