You can prevent 2.48 million cardiovascular diseases like strokes, heart attacks, cardiac arrests by cutting 20 percent of sugar from packaged foods and 40 percent from beverages. The elimination of sugar will also help you to prevent 490,000 cardiovascular deaths. According to a new study finding, 750,000 diabetes cases in the U.S. can be controlled by cutting sugar from package foods and beverages.
This micro-simulation study was published in Circulation. A team of researchers created a model to simulate the health impacts of a pragmatic sugar-reduction policy. The U.S. National Salt and Sugar Reduction Initiative (NSSRI) proposed this policy to develop a partnership with more than 100 local, state, and national health organizations. The main goal of the policy was to reformulate sugary products.
Lead author and attending physician at MGH, Siyi Shangguan said, “We hope that this study will help push the reformulation initiative forward in the next few years,” Siyi also stated, “Reducing the sugar content of commercially prepared foods and beverages will have a larger impact on the health of Americans than other initiatives to cut sugar, such as imposing a sugar tax, labeling added sugar content, or banning sugary drinks in schools.”
After ten years of the NSSRI policy, the U.S. successfully saved $4.28 billion in total net healthcare costs. The researchers found that the populations especially Black and Hispanic adults that consume the most sugar as a historical consequence could generate significant health and economic gains.
Co-senior author and dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University Dariush Mozaffarian said, “Sugar is one of the most obvious additives in the food supply to reduce to reasonable amounts,” Dariush also said, “Our findings suggest it’s time to implement a national program with voluntary sugar reduction targets, which can generate major improvements in health, health disparities, and healthcare spending in less than a decade.”