Want to Protect Your Heart? Give Up Juices, Sports Drinks

Over the last decade, sugar has practically become public health enemy number one. Studies have linked excessive added sugar consumption with a wide range of health problems including cavities, obesity, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

Unfortunately, the typical American diet is laden with sugar. Daily sugar intake should be limited to 6 teaspoons (or 100 calories) for women and 9 teaspoons (or 150 calories) for men, yet the average American adult consumes about 17 teaspoons of sugar each day, according to the American Heart Association (AHA).

Most Americans get their excess sugar not from teaspoons, however, but from processed foods. Added sugar is a standard ingredient in many processed foods because it helps preserve foods and improves the texture, color and browning capabilities.

“Another reason sugar is used in processed foods is flavor. Fat adds flavor to foods, so when food manufacturers produce reduced-fat foods, they’ll increase the amount of sugar and/or salt to compensate for the loss of flavor,” says Dr. Andrea Klemes, chief medical officer, MDVIP. “This means if you’re eating processed foods that have had fat reduced or even completely removed, there’s a good chance you’re consuming far more sugar than you realize.”

But processed foods aren’t the only problem. Processed beverages like juices, sodas and sports drinks tend to be very high in sugar and have been linked to accelerated brain aging, liver disease and cancer in women.

And after researchers at Tufts University assessed data collected between 1980 and 2018 from the Global Dietary Database consortium, they found that overindulgence in sugar-sweetened beverages also is a significant contributor to millions of heart disease and type 2 diabetes cases throughout the world, according to a study published in Nature Medicine.

The researchers also pointed out that many sugar-sweetened beverages are heavily marketed in lower and middle economic areas, which is particularly troubling because those areas are less equipped to handle the health issues. Most supermarket aisles are stocked with a wide range of sugar-sweetened beverages. Coffee house menus usually include items that have days’ worth of sugar in them. And some varieties of smoothies from retail smoothie bars are sugar bombs.        

Why Are Sugary Beverages So Unhealthy?

Researchers defined sugar-sweetened drinks as any beverage with 50 or more calories of added sugars. Sugar-sweetened drinks can be manufactured, commercially made or homemade and can include soft drinks, energy drinks, fruit drinks, punch, lemonade and aguas frescas. They excluded 100 percent fruit and/or vegetable juices, noncaloric artificially sweetened drinks and sweetened milk. Sugar-sweetened drinks are harmful because they are:

• High in calories, contributing to weight gain
• High in sugar. Based on AHA recommendations, these drinks have at least 50 percent of the daily recommended intake of sugar for women and 30 percent for men, raising the risk for various health issues. 
• Low in nutrients. Soda and energy drinks aren’t nutritious. Juices aren’t either, as the juicing process destroys the fiber in fruits in vegetables, stripping them of fiber and nutrients. Low-fiber foods and beverages leave your susceptible to overeating.
• Rapidly digested. Liquids are digested quicker than food, making liquid sugar more problematic than solid sugar because it can spike blood sugar levels, triggering hunger when blood sugar levels crash.

“In a nutshell, sugary beverages cause weight gain. Being overweight or obese raises your risk for insulin resistance and other metabolic issues that can evolve into heart disease -- the number one cause of death in the U.S. - and type 2 diabetes, which has become an epidemic,” says Klemes. “Swap juices and smoothies with whole fruits and vegetables. Skip sodas, fruit drinks and punches and sports drinks. And of course, talk to your doctor for additional insights.”

Don’t have a primary care physician? Consider joining an MDVIP-affiliated practice. MDVIP-affiliated physicians have more time to help you in your pursuit of a healthier lifestyle. Find a physician near you and begin your partnership in health »