Could Sugar Raise Blood Pressure More Than Salt?

Sugar intake could yield more risk for hypertension and cardiovascular disease than dietary sodium, according to a recent analysis.

“Evidence from epidemiological studies and experimental trials in animals and humans suggests that added sugars, particularly fructose, may increase blood pressure and blood pressure variability, increase heart rate and myocardial oxygen demand, and contribute to inflammation, insulin resistance and broader metabolic dysfunction,” said the authors of the study.
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“Thus, while there is no argument that recommendations to reduce consumption of processed foods are highly appropriate and advisable, the arguments in this review are that the benefits of such recommendations might have less to do with sodium—minimally related to blood pressure and perhaps even inversely related to cardiovascular risk—and more to do with highly-refined carbohydrates,” they said.

For the meta-analysis, researchers evaluated data for over 100,000 participants, finding that individuals who consumed 25% or more calories from sugar had a threefold increased risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease.

In included trials lasting 8 weeks or longer, researchers discovered that higher sugar consumption significantly increased diastolic (5.6mm Hg) and systolic (6.9 mm Hg) blood pressure.

They noted that when excluding studies that received funding from the sugar industry, the impact on blood pressure was more pronounced: 7.6/6.1 mm Hg.

The complete study is published in the December issue of BMJ Open Heart.

-Michelle Canales

Reference:

Dinicolantonio JJ, Lucan SC. The wrong white crystals: not salt but sugar as aetiological in hypertension and cardiometabolic disease. Open Heart. 2014 November [epub ahead of print] doi: 10.1136/openhrt-2014-000167.