Effects of High and Low Sugar Diets on Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors

It has been proposed that a high sugar intake was associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk and metabolic syndrome depending on the amount of carbohydrate (CHO), other nutrients in foods, and underlying metabolic disturbances. This study aimed to investigate the effects of high (HS) and low sugar (LS) diets on metabolic profiles in 25 middle-aged men at increased CVD risk in a 12-week randomised cross-over intervention study. An isocaloric dietary exchanged model consisted of HS (24% energy from sugar) and LS (6% energy from sugar) with comparable total CHO, fat and fibre composition in normal foods was used. Anthropometric, blood pressure and plasma lipid profile were measured pre- and post-intervention. Body weight, waist circumference and fat mass increased and decreased significantly after HS (by 0.7±0.3 kg, 1.4±1.0 cm and 0.5±0.3 kg) and LS (by 2.1±0.5 kg, 2.0±0.8 cm and 1.4±0.3 kg) (p<0.05), respectively. Plasma TG increased significantly after HS by 0.26±0.07 mmol/L and decreased after LS by 0.35±0.16 mmol/L. Plasma HDL decreased by 0.11±0.03 mmol/L (p<0.05) after HS, whilst, plasma TC and LDL decreased significantly by 10% after LS. There was no significant change in other parameters after either diet. This study confirmed that a diet with a greater proportion of sugar increased CVD risk via negative changes in metabolic profiles including body weight, waist circumference and lipid parameters, whereas LS produced the positive effects. A restriction of sugar intake to lower than 10% energy intake is vital to reduce CVD risk.