Sugar May Contribute to High Cholesterol
Americans love sugar. So much so that Americans on average consume 2.5 to 3 times the recommended amount. Excess sugar consumption is known to cause obesity, diabetes, and other conditions related to heart disease. Now new research show it may lead to unhealthy cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
Added sugar is any type of caloric sweetener used in prepared or processed food. In this study, people who ate large amounts of added sugar had 3 times the risk of having low HDL which is a major risk factor in having heart disease.
Added sugar does not only add extra calories to food, it also has no nutritional value. Yet, it is found in almost everything from fruit juices to cereal. The American Heart Association advises only 6 teaspoons of sugar for women and 9 for men per day. Yet, a single can of soda has 10 teaspoons of sugar. At the end of the day, added sugars make up about 16% of our daily total calories.
The solution to this problem is to avoid foods with little to no added sugars. Reading the food label is a great way to spot added sugars, but differentiating natural sugars from added sugars can be a bit tricky. Basically, any words with syrup or end in “ose” like fructose are added sugars.
Though, the best method is to make a few simple changes to our diet, such as cutting out sugary drinks. Beverages are our number one source of added sugar and by eliminating it from our diet is a sure way to reduce added sugar intake.
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