Is Your Sweet Tooth Increasing Your Risk of Heart Disease?

Posted by Ben:

According to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), added sugar is doing more than just packing on the pounds. Researchers discovered that all the sweetness is associated with several cardiovascular disease risk factors, including lower levels of HDL cholesterol (the “good” cholesterol) and higher levels of triglycerides in the blood.

 

This is a major problem in the U.S. for two main reasons:  1) the standard American diet is increasingly incorporating added sugars at every meal, and 2) our health care costs are rising at an unsustainable rate. Combined, these two trends create a recipe for disaster both for our nation’s health and our economy.
 

Study authors defined the added sugars as “caloric sweeteners used by the food industry and consumers as ingredients in processed or prepared foods to increase the desirability of those foods.” While sugar has long been associated with obesity, diabetes and tooth decay, these new findings have now linked added sugar to overall heart health.
 

The Study

Researchers examined over 6,000 adults who were enrolled in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, looking specifically at what participants had eaten on a daily basis and calculating the estimated total added sugar in each individual’s diet. Researchers then broke them down into sub-groups based on how many calories participants took in from added sugar per day: less than 5%, 5-10%, 10-17.5%, 17.5-25% and 25% or more.
 

The researchers found that 18.5% of Americans get at least 25% of their daily calories from added sugar, and, interestingly, those who consumed more added sugar tended to be “younger, non-Latino blacks with low income,” pointing to potential socio-economic factors that may require further study.
 

The Findings

"We found that the lower the amount of added sugar people ate, the better their good cholesterol and their blood triglyceride levels," said co-author Dr. Miriam B. Vos, assistant professor of pediatrics at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. The most significant finding related to HDL cholesterol:  there was a ten point difference between the group who at the most added sugar and the group who ate the least. Remember, higher HDL cholesterol levels are linked with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.
 

And as you might guess, triglyceride levels showed the opposite trend. There was a near 10 point difference in levels of blood fats linked to higher cardiovascular risk between the two groups (those who consumed the least added sugar vs. those who consumed the most). Among women participants, LDL (the “bad” cholesterol) levels went from 116 mg/dl for those who ate the least sugar to 123 mg/dl for those who ate the most.
 

The study authors concluded that “their data support dietary guidelines that aim to cut consumption of added sugar.” The problem is current guidelines vary wildly, from 25% of total calories coming from added sugars as suggested by the Institute of Medicine to just 5%, as recommended by the American Heart Association.
 

"What it really means is we have to go back to things like whole grains and vegetables and fruit and eat things in moderation in order to be healthy," said Dr. Vos. "Plus, a good healthy dose of activity."
 

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/04/20/added.sugar.lipids/index.html

Posted by Ben