CONSUMING excessive amounts of free sugar could take its toll on your heart. 

Too much consumption of added sugars in food, also known as “free sugar,” may lead to various cardiovascular diseases, according to a recent study published in the London-based BioMed Medicine Journal.

Sugar carbohydrates that are added to foods and beverages before they are consumed are referred to as added sugars or free sugars. These include sugars that are naturally found in honey, syrup, and fruits, as well as sugars that are added to foods purposefully.

The study tested over 110,000 participants aged 37 to 73 without any indications of cardiovascular diseases. They participated in a four-year data gathering from 2006 to 2010.

Participants were asked to take part in two to five online nutritional assessments that lasted 24 hours each, during which they were required to keep a diary of everything they ate and drank several times.

Does free sugar mean free diseases?

The study revealed that greater consumption of free sugar was found to be associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease as well as higher triglyceride concentrations within all lipoproteins. 

The researchers also followed the participants for almost nine years after that and discovered that there was no association between total carbohydrate intake and cardiovascular disease. 

Nevertheless, when they investigated how the results vary depending on the types and sources of carbohydrates consumed, they discovered that a larger intake of free sugar was related to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease as well as a larger waist measurement.

Switch to fiber

But what can people do to ward off the risks of getting cardiovascular disease linked to too much consumption of free sugars?

Researchers hypothesized that a higher intake of fiber, as well as the substitution of refined grain starch and free sugars with whole grain starch and non-free sugars, could protect against the incidence of cardiovascular disease.

The results of a recent meta-analysis of observational studies suggest that higher intakes of foods containing whole grains and fiber are related to a lower risk of ischemic heart disease. However, the evidence is insufficient for the risk of stroke, it said.

Some of the diseases linked with too much intake of free sugars are cardiovascular diseases, recording 4,188 cases; ischaemic heart diseases, with 3,138 cases; and stroke, with 1,124 cases, the study noted.

The PH situation

According to recent data from Philippine Statistics Authority, ischaemic heart disease was the leading cause of death among Filipinos in 2022. 

The PSA said ischemic heart disorders caused 77,173 deaths from January to September 2022, accounting for 18.5 percent of all fatalities nationwide in the said year.