The consumption of refined sugars is increasingly being associated with the development of obesity, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and hyperglycaemia. Of the commonly consumed sugars, sucrose and high fructose corn syrup may be particularly problematic because they contain fructose, which is thought to cause insulin resistance, raised serum triglyceride levels as well as decrease levels of high density lipoprotein cholesterol, when consumed in large amounts. Data shows that the contribution of caloric sweeteners to energy increased through the 1990s in the United States of America, and between 1994 and 1996 soft drinks were the greatest single source of energy in the American diet for people aged ≥2 years. However, more recent data suggests that increases in added sugars seen between the 1970s and 1990s way have started to reverse this trend in the last decade.
Researchers1 have studied a cross-section of American residents ≥2 years that included 42,316 subjects. The data for food consumption was obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from between 1999 and 2008 and the added sugar content was collated from the MyPyramid Equivalent Database. The labels were used for foods that were not referenced and recipes were consulted to quantify added sugar to mixed foods. Naturally occurring sugars such as fructose in fruit and lactose in milk were not included in the analysis. The results showed that between 1999 and 2000 and between 2007 and 2008 the absolute intake of added sugars decreased from a mean of 100.1g/d to 76.7g/d. Interestingly, sugar from soft drink consumption decreased from 37.4g/d to 22.8g/d. However, added sugar from energy drinks increased during these periods, although peak consumption was only 0.15g/d.
The fall in intake of sugar from soft drinks caused a reduction in energy from added sugars to fall from 18.1% to 14.6% of total energy. This decrease was across all races, ethnicities and ages. In compensation, intakes of protein, carbohydrates and fat increased slightly during the same period. The overall trend suggests that total intake of added sugars rose from 59.0g/d (13.1% total energy) between 1977 to 1978, to 79.5% (16.0% total energy in 1994 to 1996 and further to 100.1g/d (18.1% total energy) in 1999 to 2000. After this time intakes fell to a low of 76.7% (14.6% total energy) between 2007 to 2008. This fall in added sugar intake may have resulted from the more widespread use of artificial sweeteners in the soft drink industry and a greater awareness by the population of the association between sugar and weight gain.
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