Googling answers say that adults should have no more than 30g of sugars a day. I’m not too sure whether that’s added (I’m guessing) or included with fruits and other stuff. Meanwhile carbohydrate intake is about 300g a day but doesnt that mean around 300g of sugar with it? Which going by that logic would be ridiculous. I know I went wrong somewhere so if you could help by explaining it would be much appreciated.
Also: labels on foods which say sugar amount…what do those exactly mean? Which sugar is it talking about?
Thanks
The 30g/day thing is added sugar.
When you look at a nutrition label, it includes all of what’s in the package. So it includes total sugar.
Sugar is one of many types of carbs, it’s a refined carbohydrate, meaning your body has to do basically nothing to extract the energy. There are other types of carbs, complex carbs, that your body needs to work to get. Those are the 90% of carbs you should be eating besides sugar. Whole grain breads, cereals, pastas, starchy veggies, etc are good sources of carbs.
Remember 30g is meant as an upper limit. Added sugar is bad for the body. Premature brain aging, diabetes, etc. The less of it you consume in your life, the better. But no one’s perfect, and M&Ms are awesome, so they give us a little leeway.
This video explained sucrose, fructose and glucose, and how it behaves in the body, even though it’s actually about debunking tik tok claims. I feel like it’ll answer your questions. Anne Reardon glucose info vid
As I understand it, carbohydrates are on a spectrum from simple glucose sugars, like sucrose (which is white table sugar) through fructose (slightly less-sweet sugar from fruit) through increasing complexity (& decreasing sweetness) of rices and potatoes and pasta (starches) to more complex carbohydrates, like green/yellow/red/ vegetables.
Diabetics use a chart called a Glycemic Index which lists different carbohydrates by their relative simpleness/sweetness. Might be useful or relevant: https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=glycemic+index+chart&ia=web
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ETA: Then there’s “net carbs,” which, as I understand it is something like “grams of carbohydrates minus grams of fiber” (because fiber is soo good for us?)
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I really hope a registered dietician (rather than a (non-regulated) nutritionist) weighs in here with some good eli / tldr. ;-)
others have already said it and I’ll repeat it.
We are talking about added sugars here. Your body will convert everything to usable energy. Which if you go into biochemistry or cell respiration specifically you will find that sugar and oxygen are key parts of this entire process.
Therefore you need and will utilize sugars, but how your body gets to that point is very important. The chain of hormonal reactions needed are a key component and filling your body with simple sugars is very different than filling it with fibers plus sugar. A chocolate bar will hit really different than an apple or say oatmeal even if in the end they all metabolize the same way within the mitochondria of the cell.
Just try and limit excess simple sugar, be it table sugar, maple syrup, honey, candy, etc. and try instead to fill up on nutritionally dense foods. The most bang for your buck calorie so to say.
I’ll be honest with you all sugar is converted to it’s constitute parts. Sucrose (sugar) is made up of glucose and fructose. All carbohydrates contain glucose and most carbohydrates contain varying amounts of fructose. Either way it’s metabolized nearly the same regardless of source. Therefore, focusing on “sugar” is ridiculous just consume quality whole grain carbohydrates to get the necessary micronutrients and fiber.
If you want the big picture, read up on insulin resistance and how the body deals with carbs/sugar. Then you can make an informed decision for yourself.
Fewer carbs is better. But you don’t have to go crazy and be like that every day. Eat enough carbs and you gain weight, you get fatty liver, become pre-diabetic, etc. It snowballs. Go the other way and your body is better off.
Dr. Jason Fung has a book on the topic as well as many, many YouTube videos. And other doctors as well.
Added sugar is best avoided, at least daily.
30g of sugar refers to added sugar.
Sugar, starch, fiber, and alcohol (including sugar alcohols) are all carbohydrates, each providing a varying amount of usable energy.
Labels don’t always tell what kind of sugar you’re getting (added or naturally present).
You shouldn’t be eating that many carbs a day. This is why so many people have success on a low carb/no carb diet. ALL carbs are sugar, they convert into glucose in your blood stream. We shouldn’t be eating as many carbs as we do. That’s why things like the vegan diet are not sustainable. It’s just pure blood glucose all day long, and some indigestible protein and micronutrients. This forum will never tell you that because it lacks nutritional knowledge.
Currently the DV for total carbs is 275g with 28g of that being from fiber and 50g from added sugars. Any mono- or disaccharide is considered “added sugar” including honey. Intrinsic sources, such as fruit, are not considered added sugar and are not factored into that total quantity.
its total sugar, not just processed or not just added.
Your nutrition chart usually shows:
Carbs……………………………………..19g
Of which are sugar……………..4g
Or something like that, while processed sugars and added sugars are worse, you can still harm your body with too much fruit sugar f.e.
Today i saw a fruit drink without sugar additives, that had 900kcal on 2 litres…
If you dont eat alot of natural stuff you should only worry about fructose.
High Fructose Corn Syrup f.e. is super unhealthy and used in alot of processed food, natural “Unhealthy” syrups f.e. maple syrup is by far not as bad, but def. has alot of calories and ofc. also has some problems that normal sugar has.
Carbs are short for carbohydrates. Whole unprocessed fruits and vegetables have a water content that will hydrate you, fill your micronutrient and photochemical needs as well as fill you up with the fiber needed for proper digestion. Do they have sugar? Yes. You should only be concerned with any added sugar in your diet not those from fruits or vegetables.
30g of sugar one…means ur simple sugar like sugar, corn syrup, etc…. that 300 grams of carbs is youor complex carbs and simple carbs such as sugar…. that is the recommended amount an everage adult should aim for per day , ideally complex… on label: when it says total sugar, it means complex nd simple sugars…sugar added are the simple, refined sugars such as sugar, high fructose corn syrup…so
: eg, total sugar 105g; sugars added 39g.fiber 5g.subtract fiber, sugars added from total sugar and you get your complex carbs(105-39-5=61g )…hope this helps.