Sugar Not So Sweet On Your Blood Pressure

A new study saying sugar might contribute more to high blood pressure and heart diseases than salt doesn’t surprise a New York cardiologist.

“Added sugar has absolutely no biologic value, so any time you eat processed foods that have added sugar, which is in so many things, it’s all calories,” said Stacey Rosen, MD, a cardiologist at LIJ Medical Center and vice president of Women’s Health at the Katz Institute for Women’s Health.

For the study, researchers from St. Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute and Montefiore Medical Center reviewed about 120 previous studies on sugar and salt and their effect on blood sugar.

They found that, when people cut back on their salt intake, their systolic (top number) blood pressure dropped by 4.8 points, and their diastolic (bottom number) pressure decreased by 2.5 points.

In those who ate a high-sugar diet — particularly added fructose form sugary drinks and processed food — blood pressure increased an average of 7.6 systolic points and 6.1 diastolic points.

Their findings lead researchers to suggest that targeting sugar reduction as opposed to salt may be a better way to lower blood pressure.

However, Dr. Rosen stresses that the study’s results shouldn’t be construed as an “either or” when it comes to salt and sugar.

“Clearly, there’s enough data showing that excessive salt isn’t good and that there’s and optimal level of salt that we should take in each day,” said Dr. Rosen. “We’re just now starting to do our homework on the real harms of processed food that contain added sugar.”

According to the American Heart Association, a normal blood pressure is considered to be less than 120 over 80 points. High blood pressure is a key risk factor for heart disease.

The results of the study were published in the journal Open Heart on Dec. 10.