Study Suggests Occasional Pastries May Be Better for Sugar Addicts than Soda Consumption

Added sugars are everywhere and come in many forms. According to ANSES, more than three-quarters of products contain at least one sweetening ingredient or sweet taste vector! However, a high consumption of sugars can lead to dental caries in the short term. In the longer term, excess sugar increases the risk of developing overweight, even obesity, and related chronic metabolic diseases (diabetes).

Recommendations for sugar intake vary among public health agencies around the world. ANSES recommends that adults and adolescents do not exceed 100 g of sugars per day. The World Health Organization recommends reducing the daily intake of free sugars (all added sugars, as well as sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and juice concentrates). of fruit) at less than 10% of the total energy intake in adults and children. It would be even better for your health to reduce this intake to less than 5%, or approximately 25 grams.

Rare and inconclusive evidence

Several studies have revealed a dose-response relationship between added and free sugar consumption and obesity and dyslipidemia. Others have found associations between sugary drink consumption and obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and incidence of cardiovascular disease. In contrast, the evidence regarding sugar consumption and cardiovascular disease risk is scant and inconclusive.

Furthermore, the few studies on the subject included only one assessment of diet at baseline. This assessment was therefore considered to be representative of the participants' diet over time.

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The objective of this new study was therefore to examine the possible associations between the consumption of added sugars and the risk of several types of cardiovascular diseases (ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke, myocardial infarction, heart failure, aortic stenosis , atrial fibrillation and abdominal aortic aneurysm).

The population studied, from two large Swedish cohort studies, included 69,705 participants (47.2% of whom were women), aged 60 on average. The average BMI was 25.3 kg/m². Diet was assessed at two time points (in 1997 and 2009) for the majority of participants. At baseline, the average consumption of added sugars was 9.1% of total energy intake (%E). In 2009, it was 6.8%E.

The highest consumers of added sugars tended to be men, with higher exercise levels and lower education levels than the lowest consumers of added sugars.

A risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm increased by 31%!

During the follow-up period, 25,739 participants were diagnosed with at least one cardiovascular disease. To study the associations between sugar intake and disease incidence, the team established three models. The main model took into account all parameters, namely age, sex, total energy intake, lifestyle factors, BMI and dietary factors.

In this model, researchers found evidence of positive linear associations between added sugar consumption and risk of ischemic stroke and abdominal aortic aneurysm.

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For excessive added sugar intakes, greater than 20 E%, the risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm increased by 31% (compared to the lowest consumption, ≤ 5 E%). For added sugar intakes greater than 15-20%, the risk of ischemic stroke increased by 9%. Researchers found no association between sugar consumption and risk of hemorrhagic stroke.

They also emphasize that a very low consumption (close to zero) of sugars corresponded to the maximum risk for each disease. This suggests, in passing, not completely banishing sugar from your diet, because it does not seem beneficial. The lowest risks corresponded to low to moderate sugar intake (> 5-7.5 E%).

A risk “carried” by sugary drinks

The researchers then analyzed the results by distinguishing between the different sources of added sugars. They observed that high consumption of sugary drinks (more than 8 servings/week) increased the risk of ischemic stroke (+19%). It also increases the risk of heart failure (+18%), atrial fibrillation (+11%) and abdominal aortic aneurysm (+31%).

Conversely, the consumption of a few sweets (pastries) tended to reduce the risk of all the diseases considered. Consumers of 2 or fewer servings per week had the highest risks. “ This surprising contrast highlights the importance of considering not only the amount of sugar consumed, but also its source and context », Notes Suzanne Janzi, researcher at Lund University and first author of the study.

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“ Liquid sugars, found in sugary drinks, generally provide less satiety than solid forms, that is, they make you feel less full, which can lead to overconsumption. Context also plays a role: sweets are often consumed in social settings or on special occasions, whereas sugary drinks may be consumed more regularly », adds the researcher.

Eating sweet toppings (toppings), like honey for example, also seemed to reduce the risk of certain diseases, such as heart failure (-10%) and aortic stenosis (-15 to -20% depending on the quantities consumed), compared to consumption the lowest (≤ 2 servings/week). The risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm increased by 34% in the event of excessive consumption (>28 servings/week).

Biological mechanisms that remain to be clarified

In summary, the associations vary depending on the disease considered and the source of added sugars. It appears that sugary drinks are more harmful to cardiovascular health than any other form of sugar. Consuming a lot of these drinks would significantly increase the risk of four cardiovascular diseases. At the same time, people who occasionally ate sweets were healthier than those who did not eat them at all.

“ This could reflect underlying dietary behaviors – people who consume very little sugar could have very restrictive diets or limit sugar due to pre-existing health conditions », thinks Janzi.

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Research has raised several hypotheses to explain the associations between added sugars and cardiovascular disease risk. One of them is based on the particular metabolism of fructose, a common added sugar. The liver converts it to glycerol-3-phosphate, which serves as the basis for the synthesis of triglycerides. Thus, triglyceride levels increase, leading to increased cardiovascular risk.

Further work will be needed to understand how different types of sugar consumption impact health. The study should also be continued with other populations, because the diet studied here is very specific. “ Our results are based on a Swedish population, whose dietary habits and lifestyle factors may differ from those of other populations ” said Janzi. The social custom of “fika”, a coffee and pastry break, is indeed deeply rooted in Swedish culture. Thus, the results may not be directly translatable to other populations.

In the meantime, knowing that there are links between the consumption of added sugars and the risk of cardiovascular disease could contribute to the development of future nutritional recommendations.