Sweet & dangerous: reducing sugar in packaged foods could save millions of lives

The reputation of sugar is bittersweet in the health world. From fruits, vegetables to grains and dairy, nearly everything we eat has some amount of natural sugar in it. Natural sugar takes a long time to digest and provides your body with a consistent supply of energy.

But things are not that positive when it comes to the added sugars in packaged foods. In fact, a recent study published in the journal Circulation claims that just a 20 per cent reduction of sugar from packaged foods and 40 per cent reduction from beverages, 2.48 million cases of cardiovascular disease in the U.S. could be avoided.

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The proposal also says that the reduction could help prevent nearly 7,50,000 cases of diabetes in the U.S.

Overall, implementation of the measures could save at least 4,90,000 lives from the current American adult population (aged 35 to 79).

The claims are based on a model designed by researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Tufts University, and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

The report urges people to choose unsweetened versions of products and call upon food companies to reduce portion sizes for products that are designed to serve a single person. The researchers believe that cutting sugar in packaged foods could play a major role in improving overall public health.

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