How harmful is added sugar?
One of the biggest dangers of heart disease is too much added sugar. Sugars added during food processing (like sucrose or dextrose), foods packaged as sweeteners (like table sugar), sugars from syrups and honey, and sugars from concentrated fruit or vegetable juices are all examples of added sugars.
Added sugar is any sweetener put into a food or beverage during preparation or processing, as distinct from the sugars that occur naturally in most foods and drinks. Common added sugars include agave, cane sugar, raw sugar and turbinado sugar, corn syrup (high fructose corn syrup), honey, maple syrup and cane juice. The human body does not need any carbohydrates from added sugar.
The main dietary sources are soft drinks, fruit drinks, flavoured yogurt, cereals, cookies, cakes, candy and the majority of processed foods. Less obvious products carry it too — soups, bread, cured meats and ketchup all use added sugar as a sweetener. The ICMR recommended dietary allowance for sugar is a maximum of 30 gm/day, and added sugars should not account for more than 5% of the daily energy obtained from food and drink, which for people over the age of 11 equates to 30 g per day.
Excess added sugar is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease; cognitive problems including dementia and Alzheimer's; colon cancer; diabetes; high blood pressure, cholesterol and triglyceride levels; kidney disease; liver disease; obesity and inflammation; pancreatic cancer; retina, muscle and nerve damage; and oral cavities. The liver converts dietary carbohydrates to fat in the same way it does alcohol, which can result in a greater accumulation of fat that can eventually lead to fatty liver disease — a factor in diabetes, which in turn increases the risk of heart disease.
Practical control comes down to four habits: read nutrition labels, where total sugar including added sugar is usually listed in grams, noting grams per serving and the total number of servings; limit consumption of processed food and choose the option with the lowest added sugar; cut the serving back, keeping note of extra cubes of sugar added to tea or coffee; and swap processed fruit juices or sodas for whole fruit wherever possible.