Eating Too Many Sweets May Up Heart Disease Risk: Study

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Drinking too many fizzy drinks and eating a lot of sweets may put even otherwise healthy people at increased risk of heart disease, a study has warned. Researchers from University of Surrey in the UK found that a subject group of otherwise healthy men had increased levels of fat in their blood and fat stored in their livers after they had consumed a high sugar diet.

The study, published in the journal Clinical Science, looked at two groups of men with either high or low levels of liver fat, and fed them a high or low sugar diet to find out if the amount of liver fat influences the impact of sugar on their cardiovascular health.

The low sugar diet contained no more than 140 calories a day worth of sugar - an amount close to the recommended intake - while the high sugar diet contained 650 calories worth. After 12 weeks on the high sugar diet, the men with a high level of liver fat - a condition known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) - showed changes in their fat metabolism that are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, heart attacks and strokes.

Fat metabolism is the biochemical process by which fats are transported and broken down in the blood, and used by the cells of the body, researchers said. They also revealed that when the group of healthy men with a low level of liver fat consumed a high amount of sugar, their liver fat increased and their fat metabolism became similar to that of the men with NAFLD.

"Our findings provide new evidence that consuming high amounts of sugar can alter your fat metabolism in ways that could increase your risk of cardiovascular disease," said Bruce Griffin, professor at University of Surrey.