According to the study published in JAMA: Internal Medicine, those who got 17 to 21 percent of calories from added sugar had a 38 percent high risk of dying from cardiovascular disease compared to those who consumed 8 percent of their calories from added sugar. The risk was more than double for those who consumed 21 percent or more of their calories from added sugar.

Added sugars are sugars and syrups that are added to foods or beverages when they’re processed or prepared.

 

They include: 

•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.

They have long been cited for contributing to obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

But this is the first study to tie these together and show that too much added sugar could lead to heart disease and kill you, said Rachel K. Johnson, Ph.D., R.D., chair of the American Heart Association’s nutrition committee and professor of nutrition and medicine at the University of Vermont in Burlington.

The American Heart Association recommends:

•No more than 6 teaspoons or 100 calories a day of sugar for women.

•No more than 9 teaspoons or 150 calories a day for men.

“This study is another confirmatory piece in the growing body of science that supports the American Heart Association’s recommendations,” said American Heart Association President Mariell Jessup, M.D., professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and medical director of Penn’s Heart and Vascular Center.

 

 

 

Source Newsroom: Voices for Healthy Kids

Citations: JAMA Intern Med.