Numerous studies have demonstrated the harmful effects of excessive sugar consumption on health, prompting recommendations to limit “free” or added sugar consumption to less than 10% of a person’s daily calorie intake.
Nonetheless, according to the study published Wednesday in the journal The BMJ, researchers in China and the United States concluded that before developing formal rules for sugar restriction, the “quality of existing evidence needs to be comprehensively evaluated.”
High consumption of added sugar was associated with significantly higher risks of 45 negative health outcomes, including diabetes, gout, obesity, high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, cancer, asthma, tooth decay, depression, and premature death, according to a large review of 73 meta-analyses that included 8,601 studies.
Free sugars — the type of sugar the authors focused on — are those added during the processing of foods; packaged as table sugar and other sweeteners; and naturally occurring in syrups, honey, fruit juice, vegetable juice, purees, pastes and similar products in which the cellular structure of the food has been broken down, according to the US Food and Drug Administration. This group excludes sugars found naturally in dairy products as well as structurally intact fruits and vegetables.
According to Dr. Maya Adam, director of Health Media Innovation and clinical assistant professor of pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine, the study “provides a useful overview of the current state of the science on sugar consumption and our health and confirms that eating too much sugar is likely to cause problems.” Adam was not a participant in the study.
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“Studies like this are useful in advising patients that seemingly small changes, such as avoiding excess sugar, such as sugar-sweetened beverages, can have a marked and positive improvement in health,” said CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and public health professor at George Washington University who was not involved in the study.
Participants with the highest intake of sugar-sweetened beverages had higher body weight than those with the lowest intake, according to evidence of moderate quality.
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“As a nutrition researcher who served on the Advisory Committees for the 2010 and 2020 US Dietary Guidelines, I can confirm that dietary sugar intake in the US is more than twice the recommended amount (less than 10% of total daily caloric intake), and while the direct impact of sugar itself offers minimal, if any, nutritional benefits, it further replaces foods that do,” said Linda Van Horn, professor emeritus of preventive medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. Van Horn was not involved in the research.
The connection between sugar and disease
According to the study’s authors, evidence of a link between free sugar and cancer is sparse and contentious, and additional research is needed. However, the study suggests that the finding could be explained by the recognized effects of sugar on weight: Obesity, which is a major risk factor for many malignancies, has been linked to excessive sugar consumption. The same is true with cardiovascular disease.
“Added sugar intake can cause stress on the heart and blood vessels, which can lead to increased blood pressure,” behavioral scientist Brooke Aggarwal told CNN in February. The study did not include Aggarwal, an assistant professor of medical sciences in the cardiac section at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
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Highly processed meals, which can be high in free sugar, have been linked to an increase in inflammation, which is a risk factor for depression.
“Whole food carbohydrates take longer to break down into simple sugars, and a portion of them — the fiber — cannot be broken down at all,” Adam explained to CNN in February. “This means that whole, intact grains do not cause the same blood sugar spikes that simple sugars do.” Blood sugar increases induce insulin spikes, which can destabilize our blood glucose and… be the underlying cause of long-term health concerns.”
Reducing your intake
The findings, together with existing recommendations from the World Health Organization, World Cancer Research Fund, and American Institute for Cancer Research, suggest that people limit their daily free sugar intake to fewer than 25 grams, or about 6 teaspoons. That much sugar is in two dozen chocolate chip cookies, sixteen ounces of fruit punch, and around twelve teaspoons of honey. According to the Cleveland Clinic, a doughnut contains 15 to 30 grams of sugar.
The authors also advise limiting sugar-sweetened beverage consumption to less than one serving (200 to 355 milliliters) per week. According to Aggarwal, that’s the equivalent of a 12-ounce Coke.
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The authors believe that “a combination of widespread public health education and policies worldwide is urgently needed” to shift sugar consumption trends.
However, there are certain adjustments you can make on your own.
Read nutrition labels for foods you would not think of as sweet, such as bread, breakfast cereals, yogurt, or sauces, to be mindful of what you’re putting in your body. These foods typically have a lot of added sugar, which adds up, according to Adam.
Instead of sugary drinks, choose water sweetened with fruit slices and fresh or frozen fruit for dessert instead of cakes, cookies, or ice cream. Cooking and baking at home more frequently, according to Aggarwal, is one of the best strategies to reduce sugar intake.
Getting enough good-quality sleep on a regular basis would also help, “because when we’re tired, we tend to choose foods higher in sugar,” Aggarwal explained. Gradually reducing your sugar intake can help you adapt your taste buds to crave less sugar.
“With less sugar in our diets, our lives will probably end up being sweeter,” Adam predicted.
Source: edition.cnn.com