The Scientific American writes that since 1970 the obesity rate has more than doubled, diabetes has tripled and heart disease is still the biggest killer. The percentage of daily calories from saturated fats has been reduced but several studies indicate that the reason for rising rates of lifestyle disease is from the increased consumption of processed carbohydrates.
Interestingly, a study in the American Journal of Nutrition (with 300,000 participants) reported that no association was found between the amount of saturated fat intake and the risk of heart disease.
Studies have shown that the groups who consumed a low carbohydrate diet had the healthiest ratio of HDL to LDL cholesterol levels, even though they consumed more saturated fat compared to those on low fat diets.
Sugar and not Fats cause cardiovascular disease
The American Heart Association stated in their journal Circulation that “High intakes of dietary sugars in the setting of a worldwide pandemic of obesity and cardiovascular disease has heightened concerns about the adverse effects of excessive consumption of sugars.” In this study the mean intake of sugar across the participants was over 22 teaspoons per day. Within the age group of 14 to 18 year olds, the average intake was 34 teaspoons per day.
Consider also that processed carbohydrates turn to sugar, the levels reported above would actually be much higher.
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