I am one of those people that sometimes check food labels while grocery shopping. What I usually look out for are : sodium, caloric, and fat contents, I seldom check for sugar content, but I do look out for and try to avoid, as much as I can, products with high fructose corn syrup.
Sodium have been labelled the "bad guy", for as long as I can remember, with regards to being one of the factors that can cause cardiovascular events.
However studies have shown that it is actually SUGAR that is the culprit!
The authors ( A pharmacist and a medical Doctor) of an article in Open Heart conclude that foods and beverages with high sugar content may make a significant contribution to cardio-vascular risk/diseases. They also suggest that processed foods ( which tend to have high sugar content from preservatives and additives) be replaced by natural whole foods like fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts.
Below is an except from Medscape. com:
"It is a little bit frightening that we have been focusing on salt for so long," Richard Krasuski, MD, from the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, told Medscape Medical News. Dr Krasuski was not affiliated with the research.
A reduction in the consumption of added sugars and, in particular, processed foods may translate into decreased rates of hypertension as well as decreased cardio-metabolic disease. In particular, a new review article suggests that sugar, not salt, appears to contribute to the majority of the hypertension risk associated with processed food.
The conclusion that sugar represents a greater danger to the heart than salt, Dr Krasuski said, was an "eye opener." He acknowledged, though, that he should have anticipated it. He and other cardiologists have noticed that the recommendations to increasingly lower salt intake have not resulted in the expected positive cardiovascular outcomes.
Nevertheless, the bottom line of the article's recommendation should be familiar and comfortable to most physicians: Eat less processed food.
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