A spoonful of sugar may help the medicine go down — but eating six or more a day could see you needing serious medical attention.
That’s according to an “umbrella review” of thousands of studies looking at the affect of sugar consumption on health, which was published in the journal BMJ this week. Researchers in the United States and China reviewed 73 meta-analyses, which included 8,601 studies, and found “significant harmful associations” between “free sugar” consumption and 45 negative health outcomes, including but not limited to: asthma, some cancers, depression, diabetes, gout, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, tooth decay and early death.
“Free sugar,” aka added sugar, is defined as basically any sugar added to a food or drink. This includes: sugars added during the processing of foods (such as sucrose or dextrose); foods packaged as sweetness (such as table sugar or artificial sweetener); sugars from syrups and honey; and sugars from concentrated fruit or vegetable juices, according to the Food and Drug Administration. The main sources of added sugar for most Americans are sugar-sweetened drinks, baked goods, desserts and sweets, the FDA adds.
The sugar linked with poor health outcomes and early death does NOT include sugars naturally occurring in nutritious foods and beverages, however, such as dairy or whole (unprocessed) fruits and vegetables.
“This umbrella review shows that high dietary sugar consumption, especially intake of sugars that contain fructose, is harmfully associated with large numbers of health outcomes,” the new report published in BMJ concluded.
While the study authors noted that the link between sugar consumption and cancer has been limited and controversial, which requires more research, the evidence of harmful associations between eating sugar and other issues like obesity, depression and heart disease is more undeniable.
“In general, no reliable evidence shows beneficial associations between dietary sugar consumption and any health outcomes,” the report added, apart from a few exceptions that the authors said are still not supported by strong evidence.
Indeed, other recent studies have linked high sugar intake with Alzheimer’s disease. And ultraprocessed foods such as sodas, microwaveable food and salty snacks have also been linked to an increased risk of cancer — especially ovarian and breast cancer — according to a study of more than 197,000 U.K. adults published in Lancet in February. Another recent large-scale study suggested that eating 400 calories a day from ultraprocessed foods (which often pack in extra sugar) could raise your dementia risk by over 20%.
Related: This sugar alternative made from discarded plants boosts your fiber intake and is kinder to Earth
So how much sugar is “too much” exactly? The new BMJ study draws on guidance from the World Health Organization , the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research to recommend sticking to about 6 teaspoons of free sugars or added sugars a day (or below 25 grams a day), as well as limiting sugar-sweetened beverages to less than one serving a week, or just 200 to 355 milliliters a week.
The study also recommends changing overall sugar consumption patterns, especially for children and adolescents, through public health education and worldwide polices to cut down sugar intake.
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April 07, 2023 at 03:32AM
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Eating over 6 teaspoons of sugar a day linked to cancer, stroke, early death - MarketWatch
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