How many grams of sugar should we be consuming per day?

I've heard answers such as 66 grams, 150 grams and 1,000 grams.

I mean, I thought I was 100% positive when I said I believe 150 and 1,000 are too much. xD

Do any of you know the actual amout we should be getting?

i eat less than 16 grams a day. probably average 10grams. feel *much* healthier with lower sugar. all those fruit lovers - uhm. pro/con comparison: pro: marginal amount of nutrition/vitamins (i take liquid vitamins anyway?). con: lots and lots of sugar. i'll take no fruit thanks. but thats up to personal preference (but expect to lose more weight with low sugar and feel far better. just saying)

and unsweetened almond milk is definitely the way to go with coffees. much better for you than cow milk (and soy) and adds great flavor.

Original Post by jlchapman:

i eat less than 16 grams a day. probably average 10grams. feel *much* healthier with lower sugar. all those fruit lovers - uhm. pro/con comparison: pro: marginal amount of nutrition/vitamins (i take liquid vitamins anyway?). con: lots and lots of sugar. i'll take no fruit thanks. but thats up to personal preference (but expect to lose more weight with low sugar and feel far better. just saying)

and unsweetened almond milk is definitely the way to go with coffees. much better for you than cow milk (and soy) and adds great flavor.

this is all entirely anecdotal

clearly. but its certainly worked for me. food cravings way down also.

I eat three to four servings of fruit a day, plus drinking a glass of milk, plus yogurt and I'm losing weight just fine.  I'm not saying that everyone should eat the way I do, but fruit is almost never a problem for someone trying to lose weight.  And citrus fruits have nearly as strong a health benefit as green leafy vegetables, so don't be too quick to dismiss them.

There are only a few reasons to really care about your natural sugar intake:

1. You're diabetic, pre-diabetic, or have a health condition relating to insulin or sugar intake (the triglycerides problem mentioned on the first page would fall into this category).  Then, your best bet is to talk to a doctor familiar with your condition.  They can give you personal advice that no one here can.

2. You're eating so much of it that you can't get enough protein, fats, fiber, etc.  If carbs (which sugar is) are more than 65% of your diet, that's a problem.

3. You're on a low carb diet.

4. It triggers hunger and binges.

If those don't apply to you, then sugar is something you don't need to worry about.

the OP asked how many grams of sugar we should be eating a day. There is NO RECOMMENDED amount of sugar we should eat a day BY ANYONE. there is a recommendation for fruits - but these can EASILY be compensated for with green leafy vegetables (don't have the sugars that are unneccesssary), sunlight/outside time, vitamins (which we should all take). i used to eat sugar in relatively large quantities as most of us do because we're told to eat fruits, and on top of that sugar is added to absolutely everything. my hunger is now way down and my energy level is way up.

by the way, i started at 5'11" 180 5 weeks ago. i'm now down to 5'11" 162. AND 3 weeks of the 5 were spent cutting down the sugar so i didn't crash.. i didn't really have *much* weight to lose (compared to others) and i certainly have little fat on me now (bmi thingy says i'm at 16% though). that said, i'm quite shocked this site doesn't count sugar in its charts - does anyone know of a site that does?

aaaaaaaaaand the thread is from 2008, i doubt the OP cares anymore.

brainz.

Original Post by jlchapman:

the OP asked how many grams of sugar we should be eating a day. There is NO RECOMMENDED amount of sugar we should eat a day BY ANYONE. there is a recommendation for fruits - but these can EASILY be compensated for with green leafy vegetables (don't have the sugars that are unneccesssary), sunlight/outside time, vitamins (which we should all take). i used to eat sugar in relatively large quantities as most of us do because we're told to eat fruits, and on top of that sugar is added to absolutely everything. my hunger is now way down and my energy level is way up.

by the way, i started at 5'11" 180 5 weeks ago. i'm now down to 5'11" 162. AND 3 weeks of the 5 were spent cutting down the sugar so i didn't crash.. i didn't really have *much* weight to lose (compared to others) and i certainly have little fat on me now (bmi thingy says i'm at 16% though). that said, i'm quite shocked this site doesn't count sugar in its charts - does anyone know of a site that does?

Sugars are not unnecessary. They provide a relatively quick spike in blood sugar, which though it means that you also have a faster decline, for those who are so low in carbohydrates that they are coming into diabetic coma, pure sugar, or something such as a fruit by the foot or fruit roll up actually does more good than staying low on sugar.

And that doesn't mean that only a diabetic (especially those with type 1) can benefit from sugar's spikes. I do not have diabetes, but when it comes to tests in school or when I need to do something physically active without proper preparation, the intake of sugar helps me maintain my focus. If you aren't aware, glucose is the brain's preferred molecule for energy, which is a sugar. Though fats and proteins can be broken down into glucose, the break down of fats into glucose results in ketones, which if you have too much in your system, you get something called ketone acidosis, otherwise known as ketosis. During ketosis, you do lose a lot of fat, and you lose it quickly, but you damage your body, too. Protein is quite hard to break down into glucose, and it's very taxing on your liver. Complex carbohydrates may be preferable to sugar as long as you keep your intake steady and at reasonably intervals, but for people who fast or are busy and do not have the time to take to the complex carbs, sugar provides a spike in blood sugar to better help focus and performance. As long as a person eats complex carbs to release the glucose into their system to avoid the "sugar lows," natural sugar is not dangerous.

I doubt that the weigh you are losing is because you are eating so little sugar. Chances are if you aren't careful, by restricting sugar itself you are grossly restricting carbohydrate count- if less than 40% of your calories are coming from carbs, your setting yourself up for renal failure in the long run and terrible breath and poor concentration now.

Moreso, the "everybody should be taking a vitamin anyway" argument is ridiculous. Though I recognize that some people do NEED a vitamin because of malabsorption issues, taking a multivitamin every day can actually be toxic. If your vitamin offers 100% of your necessary iron, but then you eat a bowl of grape nuts because it's low in sugar and it's worth two servings of grape nuts, then you've just consumed more than the Tolerable Upper Limit. Do this enough, and it WILL have a toxic effect on your body. If you have protein bars or protein supplements, the heavy metals in those are also likely to cause toxicity... and Oh, guess what. You *can* have too much vitamin c (diarrhea anybody?), vitamin a, etc.

And I highly doubt you're going to get in your 4,700 mg of potassium by substituting for leafy vegetables. Though potassium-per-calorie-dense, I don't know anybody who can eat that many cups of vegetables.

So great if you don't need sugar for now, but don't tell people fruits are unnecessary. I'll take my fruits, my satiated feeling, my focus, and my kidneys.

I'm sorry but that's just wrong.

Ketoacidosis won't happen to anyone who doesn't have diabetes and to imply so otherwise is inaccurate. 

Ketosis and ketoacidosis are two very different things. Ketosis is good and obviously our ancestors were in periodic ketosis, so we were evolved to be in ketosis from time to time. Ketoacidosis is what happens when diabetics in Ketosis are producing too many ketone bodies and instead of protein being utilized to produce glucose, amino acids are being broken down.

In regards to this topic, the only good sugars are the carbohydrates found in vegetables. 

Lactose in dairy is not good or healthy for you. 70% of the world is lactose-intolerant. That alone should tell you something.

Fructose is fine in small doses but has been shown to increase fat more than glucose.

Glucose is fine in small doses as well. Most people nowadays are eating too many carbs however. Cut that bread out.

Original Post by healthybmi:

Original Post by elle89:

On a good day i can eat as little as 15g of sugar, but if i pig out it has known to be as high as 230g but that was a one off!

 

 "elle89, do you eat any fruit?  It is actually an essential part of your diet and contains natural sugars.  One medium apple has 14.34g of sugar, 1 cup of mixed berries @ 10g, etc,. 

You should be having more than one serving of fruit per day, if indeed this is where you are getting your 15 grams of sugar from on your 'good day'."

We actually should be having our recommended 5 to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables per day BUT all but ONE of these servings should come from vegetables. Having only one serving of fruit per day is okay...as a matter of fact it is better than having too many. Sugar, whether natural or otherwise, triggers the release of insulin which causes our bodies to store fat. Counting calories as a means of weight control is only effective if we are not eating healthy. The fact is that we can eat an enormous amount of calories if we avoid sugar and fat and eat the right foods. Plus we should actually eat more often to keep our bodies metabolism running. To burn fat it isn't about reducing caloric intake...It's about keeping our bodies burning "fuel".

Original Post by dprwilliams:

We actually should be having our recommended 5 to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables per day BUT all but ONE of these servings should come from vegetables. Having only one serving of fruit per day is okay...as a matter of fact it is better than having too many. Sugar, whether natural or otherwise, triggers the release of insulin which causes our bodies to store fat. Counting calories as a means of weight control is only effective if we are not eating healthy. The fact is that we can eat an enormous amount of calories if we avoid sugar and fat and eat the right foods. Plus we should actually eat more often to keep our bodies metabolism running. To burn fat it isn't about reducing caloric intake...It's about keeping our bodies burning "fuel".

 

Stick around dpr, and learn some useful stuff by using the tools available on this site.  What you say is well meant, but it's worth reconsidering statements like "we can eat an enormous amount of calories", and that calorie counting only works for people who eat unhealthy food, and that eating more often changes your metabolic rate. In my personal experience over four years of calorie counting, for both weight loss and maintenance, none of those three statements is true. 

I took the advice of a Certified Elite Master Trainer and lost 45 pounds in 5 months. She was adamant in her opinion that calorie counting is the least effective means of weight control and the proof was in the pudding...so to speak. I stopped counting calories and started eating more. I did change the food that I ate limiting my sugar intake to 40 grams or less per day but I am actually eating as much as or more than I've ever eaten. As for my three statements that you determined to be false...

1.) "We can eat an enormous amount of calories"...I can over eat constantly if I am eating low fat, low sugar foods. For example...I think it's a feasible for me to say that I can consume 1000 calories of a food like lettuce, or tomatoes, or practically any raw vegetable without storing an ounce of fat.

2) "...calorie counting only works people who eat unhealthy food"...I'll give you that one but only because it was too broad a statement for me to make. If all I eat every day comes from McDonald's then I would benefit by reducing my calories by eating less McDonald's or none at all. But if all I eat every day is raw vegetables then I would not suffer if I decided to eat twice as many raw vegetables...increased caloric intake but not a significant increase in fat.

3.) "Eating more often changes your metabolism"...If I were to eat several low fat, low sugar meals throughout the day as opposed to 3 bigger meals per day then my metabolism remains constant and steadily burns fat. The longer we go between meals (3 or more hours) then our bodies go into survival mode and will store the fat from anything we eat.

These are just some of the things my trainer educated me about. She is an elite professional working on her Olympic Trainer designation. I've tried calorie counting and I always felt like I was sacrificing. Her philosophy is working for me and I've seen it work long term in many people. My brother sees her as well...He has lost 60 pounds and is a better athlete now than he was 20 years ago. It's about enjoying life, enjoying food, and staying active enough to keep your metabolism up.

dpr, I'm here because I lost 50 pounds in 6 months counting calories, so I don't see that you had any advantage by using the trainer despite her negative attitude towards cc. I won't argue with your results though. Stick around if you want to learn about a very effective technique for weight control.

Regarding eating all I want: I will gain instantly if I do that, but will drop the weight back off in a few days of calorie deficits.

Regarding eating more often: I do this, and don't dispute the value in controlling hunger.  Like ajaro, I question whether eating something special can significantly raise metabolism.  Even if eating some capsicum does raise the burn, it's nowhere near as significant as the effect of swimming a mile.

This is an old thread, but here's my thoughts:

There is no recommendation for how much sugar we should be consuming... Fruit contains great vitamins but that's why it's recommended, not *because* it contains sugar. The less the better.

Why is the answer always "no sugar" or "not no sugar"?  What about "sugar in moderation?"

Feed your brain nothing but protein and fat, and see how fast it dies on you.  That doesn't mean go out and eat a family pack of gummi bears, but you need carbohydrates.  NEED.  They're a MACRONUTRIENT.

Just don't overdo it, choose less-refined over more-refined (fruit over white granulated), and you won't NEED a magic less-than-x sugar-number.

Original Post by nece:

This is an old thread, but here's my thoughts:

There is no recommendation for how much sugar we should be consuming... Fruit contains great vitamins but that's why it's recommended, not *because* it contains sugar. The less the better.

In case it isn't clear: I never meant to imply that the sugar is why we should eat fruit.  It just isn't something that you need to worry about.  It's the "fruit is teh evil!" attitude of some people that rubs me the wrong way.  Fruit is healthy, in moderation, and no one ever got fat or developed heart disease or diabetes or any other health problems whatsoever because their diet included a couple of servings of fruit a day.

A good low sugar alternative to any milk is UNSWEETENED ALMOND MILK. One serving only has about 50 calories, 3.5 grams of fat, 3 carbs, and 1 gram of protein. The fat is a good fat. Rice milk has way too much sugar. Soy milk does as much as cow's milk, I think.

Ok people misunderstand what fructose is, it is a fruit sugar which when contained in fruit is harmless reason being it is accompanied with minerals, vitamins and enzymes which digest it so no stress is put on your liver, anyway the scientific claims which support the argument of fructose being harmful is when they test high fructose syrup or whatever anyway this is because of the minerals, vitamins and enzymes are absent. Being a scientist i know it is impossible to test fructose from fruit because as soon as it extracted the minerals, vitamins and enzymes are gone. If you stop eating all sugars you will feel awful and have bad health. First of all cutting something like fruit sugar out of your diet will cause stress on your body, which in turn causes reduced oxygenation of tissues and therefore fatigue so do not diet it is bad for your body. Eat everything in moderation that is the key.

Mine's set for 10% of my daily calories from sugar, 50% from carbs.

the theory:
On 1600 cals that comes to 40g sugar, 200g carbs.

the reality:
Over the last 7 days, I've been trying to balance well, and I'm averaging 65 g sugar, 205 g carbs.