Death By Sugar
Sweets are a treat. I remember as a child receiving a nice,
sweet treat as a reward when I was a good boy or occasionally just out
of the good nature of my parents’ hearts.
Cookies, candies, chocolate bars, ice cream… you name it, and I loved it. I think all kids do, and so do adults. But science has advanced our understanding of these preferences, and today we know that sugar not only contributes to obesity and diabetes but to cardiovascular disease. It is even listed as a neurotoxin and a carcinogen. In other words, it seems sugar can kill. That means the treat becomes a trick.
What Changed…
Back in the day, bakers and grandmas put sugar in everything, including breads, cakes, cookies and drinks. Then came the news that perhaps it was sugar that was making people fat. So some popular dry-mix drinks sold their goods with “add your own sugar” marketing, while others hopped onto the artificial sweetener train. Pink and yellow and blue artificial sweetener packets soon found their resting place next to sugar’s plain white unit packages on table tops. Drinks that used to contain sugar, like Coke, Snapple and hundreds of others, swapped it out for high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Alternatively, many of these concoctions contained other unnatural, yet low calorie, sweeteners.
But people kept getting even fatter. Why? Because their bodies could not tell they were satiated, so they begged for more food and more sweets. And studies came out linking HFCS to the growing obesity epidemic among children who were avid consumers of sweetened beverages and snacks. Many companies, like Snapple and others, once again returned to using real sugar in their products.
All is well? Not so much.
Sugar’s Deadly Effects
It turns out that not only does sugar lead to elevated blood sugar, weight and diabetes risk, it also places you at risk for dying from heart disease. So the issue of eating too much sugar does not just concern weight control but longevity, according to a study published in a recent issue of JAMA Internal Medicine.
Previous studies had shown that individuals who consume higher amounts of added sugar, especially sugar-sweetened beverages, tend to gain more weight and have a higher risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. But this study sought to understand the connection between added sugar consumption and risk of death from cardiovascular (heart) disease.
“Added sugars,” as defined and measured in this study, included: “all sugars used in processed or prepared foods, such as sugar-sweetened beverages, grain-based desserts, fruit drinks, dairy desserts, candy, ready-to-eat cereals, and yeast breads, but not naturally occurring sugar, such as in fruits and fruit juices.”
According to the study, among U.S. adults, the daily calories from added sugar increased from 15.7 percent between the years 1988-1994 to 16.8 percent in the years from 1999-2004. However, this percentage decreased to just fewer than 15 percent between 2005 and 2010. More than 70 percent of adults consumed 10 percent or more calories from added sugar, and 10 percent of adults consumed 25 percent or more in the years 2005-2010.
In the follow-up that came about 14 years later, the researchers documented 831 deaths via heart disease. Specifically, study participants who consumed 17 percent to 21 percent of their daily calories from added sugar were at 38 percent greater risk of dying from heart disease than those whose diet consisted of 8 percent or less of added sugars. And when added sugar consumption topped 21 percent, researchers were shocked to find the risk of cardiovascular death “more than doubled.”
No Universal Sweet Spot
In choosing how much sugar to consume, our habits and poor food choices can lead us astray. Additionally, confusion occurs because different organizations make varying recommendations. As these researchers note:
American citizens and many others around the world drink and eat more added sugar than is healthy. And excess sugar doesn’t just mean excess weight. It’s life threatening.
According to the study authors, “A higher percentage of calories from added sugar is associated with significantly increased risk of CVD mortality. In addition, regular consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with elevated CVD mortality.”
We need, quite simply, to drastically decrease consumption of added sugar in all forms. To help you know where to start making changes, the authors listed the major sources of added sugar consumption in the average U.S. diet:
Reference
http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1819573
Cookies, candies, chocolate bars, ice cream… you name it, and I loved it. I think all kids do, and so do adults. But science has advanced our understanding of these preferences, and today we know that sugar not only contributes to obesity and diabetes but to cardiovascular disease. It is even listed as a neurotoxin and a carcinogen. In other words, it seems sugar can kill. That means the treat becomes a trick.
What Changed…
Back in the day, bakers and grandmas put sugar in everything, including breads, cakes, cookies and drinks. Then came the news that perhaps it was sugar that was making people fat. So some popular dry-mix drinks sold their goods with “add your own sugar” marketing, while others hopped onto the artificial sweetener train. Pink and yellow and blue artificial sweetener packets soon found their resting place next to sugar’s plain white unit packages on table tops. Drinks that used to contain sugar, like Coke, Snapple and hundreds of others, swapped it out for high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Alternatively, many of these concoctions contained other unnatural, yet low calorie, sweeteners.
But people kept getting even fatter. Why? Because their bodies could not tell they were satiated, so they begged for more food and more sweets. And studies came out linking HFCS to the growing obesity epidemic among children who were avid consumers of sweetened beverages and snacks. Many companies, like Snapple and others, once again returned to using real sugar in their products.
All is well? Not so much.
Sugar’s Deadly Effects
It turns out that not only does sugar lead to elevated blood sugar, weight and diabetes risk, it also places you at risk for dying from heart disease. So the issue of eating too much sugar does not just concern weight control but longevity, according to a study published in a recent issue of JAMA Internal Medicine.
Previous studies had shown that individuals who consume higher amounts of added sugar, especially sugar-sweetened beverages, tend to gain more weight and have a higher risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. But this study sought to understand the connection between added sugar consumption and risk of death from cardiovascular (heart) disease.
“Added sugars,” as defined and measured in this study, included: “all sugars used in processed or prepared foods, such as sugar-sweetened beverages, grain-based desserts, fruit drinks, dairy desserts, candy, ready-to-eat cereals, and yeast breads, but not naturally occurring sugar, such as in fruits and fruit juices.”
According to the study, among U.S. adults, the daily calories from added sugar increased from 15.7 percent between the years 1988-1994 to 16.8 percent in the years from 1999-2004. However, this percentage decreased to just fewer than 15 percent between 2005 and 2010. More than 70 percent of adults consumed 10 percent or more calories from added sugar, and 10 percent of adults consumed 25 percent or more in the years 2005-2010.
In the follow-up that came about 14 years later, the researchers documented 831 deaths via heart disease. Specifically, study participants who consumed 17 percent to 21 percent of their daily calories from added sugar were at 38 percent greater risk of dying from heart disease than those whose diet consisted of 8 percent or less of added sugars. And when added sugar consumption topped 21 percent, researchers were shocked to find the risk of cardiovascular death “more than doubled.”
No Universal Sweet Spot
In choosing how much sugar to consume, our habits and poor food choices can lead us astray. Additionally, confusion occurs because different organizations make varying recommendations. As these researchers note:
- The Institute of Medicine recommends less than 25 percent of total calories be from sugar.
- The World Health Organization recommends less than 10 percent of total calories be from sugar.
- The American Heart Association recommends less than 100 daily calories of sugar be consumed by women and 150 calories by men.
- The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends between 5 percent to 15 percent of daily caloric intake be from sugar.
American citizens and many others around the world drink and eat more added sugar than is healthy. And excess sugar doesn’t just mean excess weight. It’s life threatening.
According to the study authors, “A higher percentage of calories from added sugar is associated with significantly increased risk of CVD mortality. In addition, regular consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with elevated CVD mortality.”
We need, quite simply, to drastically decrease consumption of added sugar in all forms. To help you know where to start making changes, the authors listed the major sources of added sugar consumption in the average U.S. diet:
- Sugar-sweetened beverages (37.1 percent)
- Grain-based desserts (13.7 percent)
- Fruit drinks (8.9 percent)
- Dairy desserts (6.1 percent)
- Candy (5.8 percent)
Reference
http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1819573
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