Recent studies, such as those reviewed by endocrinologist Betul Hatipoglu, have seen stresses on the heart from sugar intake. This is partly seen by stress due to high blood pressure and high cholesterol as a result of sugar damage to the blood vessels. They found that sugar blocking drugs prevented this damage and stress to the heart. There are so many ways that sugar affects the cardiovascular system, from directly attacking the heart, to attacking the blood vessels. In all cases added sugars are negatively impacting the cardiovascular system by stressing it and altering it, leading to problems like heart disease. (4)
Products like sodas and juices contain added sugars that lead to the following maladies.
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Blood Vessels
As will be discussed below, the reaction of blood vessels to sugar intake is shocking and a major cause of cardiovascular diseases. Added sugars are something the body was never meant to and cannot properly process, which leads to the struggle with chronic inflammation. When people indulge in sugary products, or even just products with added sugars, their blood sugar goes up. This is because cells in the body don't need all of this extra sugar, so they won't absorb it. Instead, this extra sugar attaches to proteins in the blood. This unnatural combination irritates and damages the blood vessels, making them inflamed. On top of this, excess sugar is often converted to fat, and these fat cells produce pro-inflammatory chemicals that further irritate blood vessels. This inflammation of the blood vessels can cause several things, especially heart disease and high blood pressure. (1)
There are numerous ways in which sugar can affect heart rate. One way is that added sugars are quickly processed into glucose, so it is readily available to be broken down and converted for energy, which leads to higher metabolism which increases heart rate, as seen in a tudy at Springer Link by Kennedy and Scholey. Added sugars in foods also often lead to blood sugar spikes, when insulin has done its job it often results in a so called crash, which causes the release of hormones like epinephrine, a stress hormone. This also leads to a quicker heart rate. (6)
Blood Pressure
The intake of added sugars results in high blood pressure, or hypertension. As discussed above, one cause of this high blood pressure is the inflammation of blood vessels. This results in the same amount of blood cells travelling through a smaller space, which results in more pressure on the blood vessel. However, as a study by James DiNicolantonio has shown, it also increases blood pressure by increasing blood sugar, which then results in the pancreas releasing insulin. This increase in insulin leads to the sympathetic nervous system leaping into action and increasing both heart rate and blood pressure. Over time, too much sugar intake can lead to insulin resistance, which also means that magnesium isn't being released, which is stored in cells to relax muscles. Without this magnesium, the blood vessels are remaining constricted and experience higher blood pressure. Blood pressure is also increased by the resulting obesity from high added sugar intake, which puts more stress on the heart to pump harder because it has more blood to pump. (1,2,3)
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Heart Disease
The true cause of heart disease is the inflammation of the artery wall. However, as previously believed, this isn't being caused by high intakes of fats and cholesterol. Without this inflammation, cholesterol actually wouldn't accumulate in blood vessels in the first place. In actuality, the low fat diet prescribed by doctors leads to this inflammation. And this inflammation is being caused by processed carbs, mainly sugar. Although this may seem irrelevant to a low fat diet, fat is a way that companies flavor their foods. When they are without it, they add sugar to create a more palatable flavor. This inflammation leads to cholesterol getting stuck and trapped, so it builds up and accumulates along the walls of blood vessels, leading to such problems as high blood pressure and blocked arteries that lead to heart disease and heart attacks. (1)
Blood Flow Restriction
Not all sugar is converted to glucose, rather excess sugars are often converted to fat to be used at a later time. This fat is stored all over the body, and in those with high amounts of body fat, it also begins to accumulate around the heart as adipose. This excess fat around the heart restricts blood flow to the heart, putting you at a higher risk for a heart attack and other cardiovascular diseases. (5)
Processed carbohydrates are a main culprit of the cardiovascular problems explored on this page. They are considered okay for those with heart disease and other problems because they are low in fat, but they are also high in added sugars.
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