new delhi most us adults consume too much added sugar and added sugar has been found to substantially increase the risk of death from cardiovascular diseases this is the conclusion drawn from a study conducted quanhe yang and several other researchers at the us centre for disease control and prevention the study titled added sugar intake and cardiovascular diseases mortality among us adults was published in the journal jama on monday according to the study the main source for added sugar is sugar sweetened beverages like soft drinks and sports drinks accounting for 37 of added sugars followed by deserts like cakes and puddings amounting to 14 fruit drinks amounted to 9 of added sugars dairy deserts 6 and candy 6 the researchers found that a person who drank one sugar sweetened beverage daily on an average had a higher risk of dying of heart disease than a person who drank just one a week a single can of soda can contain as much as seven to nine teaspoons of sugar by added sugar overconsumption we refer to total daily consumption of sugar added to products during manufacturing ie not naturally occurring sugars as in fresh fruits in excess of dietary limits recommended by expert panels explained laura a schmidt of the department of anthropology history and social medicine school of medicine university of california at san francisco in a jama editorial on the subject sugar which was earlier thought to be part of an unhealthy diet and a contributor to obesity is now turning out to be a lot more dangerous in causing damage to the body and also as a major risk factor for heart diseases there is a paradigm shift in research on effects of sugar and the new paradigm hypothesizes that sugar has adverse health effects above any purported role as empty calories promoting obesity too much sugar does not just make us fat it can also make us sick said schmidt the new paradigm views sugar overconsumption as an independent risk factor in cardiovascular diseases as well as many other chronic diseases including diabetes mellitus liver cirrhosis and dementiaall linked to metabolic perturbations involving dyslipidemia hypertension and insulin resistance the study looked at data collected in the national health and nutrition examination survey in the periods 19881994 19992004 and 20052010 the survey collected detailed nutritional information and tracked mortality data from over 40000 people were used in the analysis while 15 countries have introduced sugar sweetened beverage taxation regimens there is little regulation in the us in contrast to sodium trans fats and other dietary additives used to increase palatability and shelf life of processed food the us government provides no dietary limit for added sugar though public health advocates have called for removal of sugar from the us food and drug administrations generally regarded as safe list which allows manufacturers to add unlimited amounts to any food observed the editorial