21/08/2025
Your sugar intake is more likely to cause heart disease than your cholesterol levels, study shows.
In fact, added sugar more than doubles heart disease death risk — even if you’re not overweight.
A major 15-year study published in JAMA Internal Medicine has found that consuming high levels of added sugar significantly increases the risk of dying from heart disease.
This proved true regardless of weight, age, s*x, physical activity, or cholesterol levels.
Participants who got 25% or more of their daily calories from added sugar were more than twice as likely to die from heart disease as those consuming less than 10%. The risk rose steadily with higher sugar intake, even among people whose diets otherwise aligned with federal healthy eating guidelines.
The biggest culprits are sugar-sweetened beverages, which account for over a third of the added sugar in the average American diet, followed by desserts, candy, sweetened cereals, and fruit drinks. Researchers suspect excess sugar may raise blood pressure and trigger the liver to release harmful fats into the bloodstream—both risk factors for heart disease. The American Heart Association recommends women consume no more than 6 teaspoons (100 calories) of added sugar daily and men no more than 9 teaspoons (150 calories), but a single can of soda meets or exceeds those limits. Experts advise replacing sugary drinks with fruit-infused seltzer and choosing fruit-based or unsweetened desserts to reduce cardiovascular risk.
Source:
Yang Q, Zhang Z, Gregg EW, Flanders WD, Merritt R, Hu FB. Added Sugar Intake and Cardiovascular Diseases Mortality Among US Adults. JAMA Intern Med. 2014;174(4):516–524.
