After conducting an exhaustive review of evidence, researchers have advised limiting added sugar consumption to about six teaspoons daily and restricting sugar-sweetened beverages to no more than one weekly serving.
Substantial correlations were identified between sugar consumption and 45 adverse health outcomes, including depression, cancers, obesity, diabetes, asthma, heart disease and death.
As it’s well-known that too much sugar consumption can have adverse consequences on health, the World Health Organization and other organizations have advised reducing added sugar to less than 10% of daily energy intake.
Researchers conducted a literature review to assess evidence quality, potential biases, and validity across all studies available on dietary sugar intake and health outcomes.
The review included 67 meta-analyses of observational studies and 6 meta-analyses of randomized controlled studies covering 83 health outcomes.
Evidence quality was assessed and graded against each outcome as either very low, low, moderate, or high quality.
Significant links were identified between sugar intake and 18 metabolic or endocrine outcomes such as obesity, gout, and diabetes; 10 cardiovascular outcomes like stroke, heart attack, hypertension; 7 cancer outcomes such as pancreatic, prostate, breast cancers; as well as 10 other effects such as depression, tooth decay, asthma attacks or death.
Evidence of moderate quality demonstrated that drinking sugar-sweetened beverages was significantly linked to higher body weight for those consuming the highest as compared to lowest intake, while any or no added sugar consumption led to greater muscle and liver fat accumulation.
Studies of low quality demonstrated that each weekly serving increment of sugar-sweetened beverages consumed was linked with an increased gout risk by four per cent and every 250mL/day increment contributed 17% and 4% increase in coronary heart disease risk and death risk respectively.
Evidence of inferior quality also suggested that each 25 gram/day increase in fructose consumption was linked with an increased pancreatic cancer risk of 22%.
Researchers discovered no relationships between diet-sugar consumption and any beneficial health outcomes besides cardiovascular disease mortality, type 2 diabetes, total cholesterol, brain tumors or glioma; however they caution that such positive associations cannot be supported with strong evidence.
These results demonstrate numerous health advantages from limiting sugar consumption to under 25 g/day (about six teaspoons daily) and one weekly serving (200-355mL/week).
