American Heart Association: Eat Less Sugar

The American Heart Association is now recommending we eat less sugar.  This is probably good news, since there's a possible sugar shortage ahead (blogged here).

From the AHA website:

Association recommends reduced intake of added sugars

Study highlights:

• High intake of added sugars is implicated in numerous poor health conditions, including obesity, high blood pressure and other risk factors for heart disease and stroke.
• Added sugars and solid fats in food, as well as alcoholic beverages are categorized as “discretionary calories” and should be eaten sparingly.
• Most American women should consume no more than 100 calories of added sugars per day; most men, no more than 150 calories.
• Soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages are the number one source of added sugars in the American diet. 

DALLAS, Aug. 24, 2009 — A new American Heart Association scientific statement provides specific guidance on limiting the consumption of added sugars and provides information about the relationship between excess sugar intake and metabolic abnormalities, adverse health conditions and shortfalls in essential nutrients. The statement, published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, for the first time, provides the association’s recommendations on specific levels and limits on the consumption of added sugars.

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