Sugar Sweetens Risk of Death

May 1, 2014

MARQUETTE, MICH. – Dr. James A. Surrell, a leading proponent of reducing added sugar in your diet to lose weight and improve your health, says that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now concludes that lowering the intake of added sugars can save your life.

A new major study just released by the CDC establishes that consuming too much added sugar (refined sugar), found in regular soda, cakes, cookies and candies significantly increases the risk of death from heart disease, he says.

“The risk of cardiovascular disease death increases exponentially as you increase your consumption of added sugar,” says the study’s lead author, Quanhe Yang, a senior scientist with the CDC.

Yang and his research team reviewed data from more than 31,000 people who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which evaluates dietary habits based on in-person interviews.

Among Yang’s findings that were published online by the Journal of the American Medical Association, are that:

People who consumed more than 21 percent of daily calories from added sugar had double the risk of death from heart disease as those who consumed less than 10 percent of calories from added sugars.

A person on a 2,000-calorie diet who consumes 21 percent of their daily calories from added sugar would be eating 420 calories from added sugar, which would be roughly three cans of regular soda.

People who consumed seven or more servings a week of sugar-sweetened beverages were at a 29 percent higher risk of death from heart disease than those who consumed one serving or less.

“I always advise my patients, medical colleagues, family and friends, and just about everybody I meet to avoid these added sugars,” says Dr. Surrell, a board certified colon and rectal surgeon. “There is way too much sugar added to our food and drinks available today, including non-diet soft drinks, candy, cookies, cakes, fruit drinks, and many other items as well. Read all labels and avoid high sugar.”

Thousands of weight conscious persons have followed a low-sugar approach after reading Surrell’s book SOS (Stop Only Sugar) Diet (ISBN 978-0-9825601-8-1, www.sosdietbook.com 144 pages, $19.95).

His weight-loss approach is not really a diet but a lifestyle choice. The choice is simple: Low Sugar, High Fiber, No More Rules!