Eating Sugar Has Been Directly Linked to Increased Heart Attacks

by Robert Wilkinson

The Research Is In! Sugar intake doesn’t simply lead only to diabetes and obesity – it also leads to increased heart attacks, liver failure, cancer, and dementia! It seems that sugar is as addictive and destructive to our bodies as cocaine or methamphetamines.

We find this jolly piece of news thanks to an article by Dr. Mark Hyman in the HuffPo titled Eggs Don't Cause Heart Attacks -- Sugar Does where we read:

A rigorously done new study shows that those with the highest sugar intake had a four-fold increase in their risk of heart attacks compared to those with the lowest intakes. That's 400 percent! Just one 20-ounce soda increases your risk of a heart attack by about 30 percent.

This study of more than 40,000 people, published in JAMA Internal Medicine,, accounted for all other potential risk factors including total calories, overall diet quality, smoking, cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity and alcohol.

This follows on the heels of decades of research that has been mostly ignored by the medical establishment and policy makers. In fact, the Institute of Medicine recommends getting no more than 25 percent of your total calories from added sugar…. This study showed that your risk of heart attacks doubles if sugar makes up 20 percent of your calories…. (and) more than 70 percent of Americans consume 10 percent of their daily calories from sugar.

We also see that the American Heart Association recommends no more than 7 ½% of our daily diet be added sugar. But it’s added to everything from tomato sauce (“has more sugar than a serving of Oreo cookies”) to yogurt with added fruit, which I’ve seen usually means more added sugar than is in soft drinks.

Having been off white powders for over 40 years, I always read the ingredients on the labels in the stores before I buy something. It seems that sugar, whether sucrose (cane sugar), corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, or any number of other types of sugars (fructose, maltitol, sorbitol, etc.) are in almost everything on the shelves. Remember that even “organic cane juice” is still sugar!

I’ve seen it in pickles, breads, tortillas, and turkey (can you believe it?) I’ve found it in almost every allegedly “healthy” frozen pizza as well as other frozen food dinners. I’ve seen it in frozen potatoes, canned vegetables, sauerkraut, kimchee, ketchup, mustard, snacks, trail mixes, crackers, chips, dips, and just about all processed foods. Even flavored coffees and teas! And of course, almost every commercial drink we buy in the stores.

While I understand everything we eat gets turned to glucose (sugar) in our bodies, there’s a huge difference between eating foods that have been a normal part of human consumption across the centuries and dumping pounds of manufactured sugars into our bloodstream and organs. While I have had extreme reactions to white sugar (even put me in the hospital long ago) I find I have no similar reaction to foods like honey, grapes, pears, peaches, apples, berries, dates, figs, oranges, molasses, beets, and other similar fruits and vegetables.

I have found over the years that a little bit of fruit in my diet goes a long way. It seems the less sugar I eat, the less I want it. And I have absolutely NO craving or taste for white sugar (cane) or any of the corn sugar substances that used to give me a huge sugar rush followed by sugar blues on a jagged edge, and left me with my teeth hurting!

By all means, check out the original article, since there’s a lot more I didn’t include here, including links to medical journals about the effects of sugar, and what is working around the world to help lessen addiction to sugar. I’ll just leave you with this piece from the post, a chilling look at just how much sugar is out there and how deadly it is:

This is a major paradigm shift. For years, we've been brainwashed into thinking that fat causes heart attacks and raises cholesterol, and that sugar is harmless except as a source of empty calories. They are not empty calories. As it turns out, sugar calories are deadly calories. Sugar causes heart attacks, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, cancer and dementia, and is the leading cause of liver failure in America.

The biggest culprit is sugar-sweetened beverages, including sodas, juices, sports drinks, teas and coffees. They are by far the single biggest source of sugar calories in our diet. In fact, more than 37 percent of our sugar calories come from soda. The average teenage boy consumes 34 teaspoons of sugar a day, or about 544 calories from sugar. Even more troubling, this isn't just putting kids at risk for heart attacks at some remote later date in their lives. It’s killing them before their 20th birthday.

May these findings inspire you to lessen the amount of cane sugar and high fructose corn syrup you eat so you can live longer and feel better! It was one of my two worst addictions when younger (the other being tobacco) and I’ve never regretted quitting both over 40 years ago, and never looked back!

© Copyright 2014 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[Jan]

My favorite "life-changing book" is Sugar-Busters! Thanks for posting something so utterly important Robert!

[dcu]

Thank you for posting this very important information.

[Sara]

Yes, this is critical although I still need to be more disciplined with sugar, personally. The Stop Being Sweet website is an awesome source of info and assistance in quitting sugar.

I used to joke that my only substance abuse was with Shipley's Donuts (a local chain). When I found myself driving around after midnight searching for a Shipley's still open, I had to admit to myself that I had a problem. Haha! But it's sadly true.

I have recently learned that sugar causes inflammation, including in the brain, which explains a lot, including the brain fog that I experience after veering off my normal diet to indulge in a sweet treat. Brain fog is not conducive to spiritual clarity.

Thank you again for the information and guidance...and the good example, Robert!