Limit on Sugars?

Nutrition Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hi,

I’m a lacto-ovo vegetarian so a large quantity of my protein intake comes from plain, unsweetened dairy sources like fat free greek yoghurt, skyr and quark.

I do aim to get the suggested servings of fruit and veg with about 8-10 most days. I do eat a lot of that from fruits though. I just really don’t like Broccoli!

Some days my sugar intake from dairy and fruits is 100-150g. I am wondering if I should be concerned about this? Some sources say no because milk and unsweetened yoghurt along with fruits are highly beneficial and they don’t behave like free sugars. Other sources say you should cap ALL sugars regardless as it can influence diabetes and other health problems.

What’s the best approach? Do I really need to limit my sugar intake if it’s not coming from added or “free” sugars?

thanks!

2

Ron,

Pretty much all carbohydrates in foods are sugar by the time they are absorbed in the gut. I’m not aware of any dietary guidelines published worldwide that put limits on naturally occurring sugars. Instead, the limit of less than ~ 5% of daily Calories from added sugars pertains only to processed foods where sugars have been added. I would not take any resource seriously that says to cap “all” sugars, as this is inconsistent with any rational interpretation of the literature.

Here are our general dietary recommendations btw:

2 Likes