How Sugar Impacts Your Heart

Are you aware of how many calories you take in a day from sugar? Most people don’t realize all the foods and drinks, obvious and hidden, that contain added sugars. According to a 15-year study reported in JAMA Internal Medicine, the average American gets 10% of their calories from added sugars. But one in ten people get at least 25% of their calories from added sugar. A good chunk of those calories come from sugar-sweetened drinks, including sodas, energy drinks, and sports drinks. Another big chunk comes from the more obvious cookies, cakes, pastries, ice cream, frozen yogurt, candy, and packaged cereals.

According to this study, those who took in 25% or more of their daily calories in sugar were twice as likely to die from heart disease as those whose diets had less than 10% added sugar. Surprising to me was the finding that the odds of dying from heart disease rose in conjunction with the percentage of sugar taken in — regardless of the person’s age, sex, physical activity, and body mass index (BMI). The implications being that someone could be physically fit, or young, but still weakening their heart health from sugar intake.

In addition, this study showed that even people who otherwise ate a healthy diet, as judged by the Healthy Eating Index (an index of how well one’s diet matches up to federal dietary guidelines), in addition to eating more sugar, still had higher cardiovascular mortality rates. The healthy fruits, veggies, and other heart-healthy foods did not counter the harmful effects of sugar.

Dr. Hu and colleagues, the researchers in this study, were not exactly sure how heart health is affected, but several indirect factors were proposed. One involves the fact that sugars are converted to fat by the liver. Over time, this can lead to a greater accumulation of fat which can turn into fatty liver disease. Fatty liver disease then contributes to diabetes, a condition that raises one’s risk for heart disease.

A second risk factor involves the increased dangers of getting diabetes from excess sugar intake, which then affects heart health. Eating too much sugar can also raise blood pressure and increase chronic inflammation, both of which increase the likelihood of heart disease. Excess sugar consumption also contributes to weight gain, especially if the sugar comes from sugary beverages. This is because the body gets tricked into turning off its appetite-control system, as liquid calories are not as satisfying as calories from solid food.

Susquehanna Health also points out that sugar can also have harmful effects on the heart by preventing triglycerides from breaking down and by lowering HDL cholerterol (‘good cholesterol’) and raising LDL (‘bad cholesterol’) level.

Based on these findings, how much sugar is it safe to consume? The American Heart Association recommends that women should have less than 100 calories of added sugar daily (about 6 teaspoons) and men should have less than 150 calories per day (about 9 teaspoons).

How can we cut back? Here are some tips:

1. Read labels and avoid foods with added sugars. This includes sweeteners like high-fructose corn syrup, fructose, glucose, malt syrup, honey, maple syrup, agave, fruit juice concentrates, and more.
2. Watch out for the less obvious hidden sugars in soups, ketchup and other condiments, crackers, and most processed foods.
3. Drink water and herbal teas rather than sugary drinks.
4. Choose fresh fruit as a dessert.

What else can you do? Contact me for a free phone chat to work out your program for cutting back your sugar intake.