I’ve blogged about sugar a number of times and normally wouldn’t return to a subject as much, but the news about sugar consumption in the U.S. is so scary that I had to say something. The amount of added sugar consumed by adults in this country has led to a frightening increase in the rate of fatal heart attacks. The added sugar isn’t the amount spooned into coffee or tea or the natural sugar found in fruit – it’s the amount manufacturers add to processed food and drink.
Researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) looked at data from more than 31,000 people who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. They found that adults whose sugar consumption amounted to between 17 to 21 percent or more of their daily calories had a 38 percent increased risk of dying from heart disease. The danger was even greater among those whose sugar consumption exceeded 21 percent or more of daily calories. These folks are at double the risk of dying from heart disease compared to study participants whose sugar consumption was low – eight percent of daily calories or less.
Now here’s the truly scary part: the study showed that more than 71 percent of adults in this country consumed 10 percent of more of their calories from added sugar and about 10 percent of these adults derived 25 percent or more of their daily calories from added sugar!
Where’s the Sugar?
All told, the study showed that adults consume the equivalent of 22 teaspoons of added sugars a day and that drinking a single sugar sweetened soda daily is associated with a higher risk of dying from heart disease. You get 7 teaspoons (140 calories) of sugar in one can of regular soda.
Those sodas are the largest source of added sugar in the average American diet, but they are not the only ones. Other foods associated in the study with an increased risk of fatal heart disease included grain-based desserts, candy, ready-to-eat cereals and yeast breads.
In the past, we’ve known that sugar contributes to obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, all risk factors for heart disease. Now we know that consuming too much sugar is an independent risk factor for heart disease, the leading killer in the U.S.
In the Omni Diet* and in The Brain Warrior’s Way* I ask you to give up sugar because of the health risks we were aware of before publication of this study: it raises blood sugar, causes rapid releases of insulin, is full of empty calories, feeds cancer cells and gives you cavities. I know that bypassing sugar and the foods that contain it isn’t easy, but I promise you that within just a few days you’ll get used to life without sugar. As a result of this change, you’ll be healthier and slimmer.
I’m not the only crusader against sugar. Prestigious academic researchers at the University of California, San Francisco are looking into the toxic effects of sugar on health and have proposed regulating it like alcohol and tobacco. I am not making this up.
The best part about The Omni Diet* and The Brain Warrior’s Way* is, there is no suffering required! Remember, my philosophy is “replace, don’t erase”! I have dozens of delicious alternatives for you. Click here to sample a few of the delicious dessert recipes, or grab yourself a copy of The Brain Warrior’s Way Cookbook* which contains a bunch of delicious and simple to make treats that no one would ever know are actually good for you.
