Bitter truth: Cut sugar in canned foods and beverages save lives, new study says

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Form of words:

New Delhi: A new study has shown that a proposed policy of reducing sugar from packaged foods by 20 percent and from beverages by 40 percent could prevent 2.48 million heart disease events in the US — including stroke, heart disease, and stroke. stroke and cardiac arrest.

According to the study, these measures could also prevent 750,000 diabetes cases in the US published in the magazine Spreading in August.

According to the study, if the proposed reduction in sugar is implemented, at least 490,000 lives could be saved from the current US adult population (aged 35 to 79) by a model created by the researchers. .

Models created by study researchers including Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Tufts University and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health simulated the effects of a sugar-cutting policy. as proposed by the US National Salt and Sugar Reduction Initiative (NSSRI).

A partnership of health organizations from across the US, NSSRI released two rounds of preliminary sugar categories and draft targets in 2018 and 2019. In February 2021, the initiative released its sugar reduction targets in 15 categories of food and beverages. Separate sets of targets have been set for 2023 and 2026 for each of these categories of products.

Policy recommendations encourage consumers to switch to unsweetened versions of products and ask companies to reduce portion sizes of products that are meant to serve one person.

The researchers hope that their model will build consensus on the need to implement this national Chinese reform policy in the US.

“We hope this study will help advance reform initiatives over the next few years,” Sia Shangguan, lead author and attending physician at MGH, said in a statement.

“Reducing the sugar content of commercially prepared foods and beverages will have a bigger impact on the health of Americans than other sugar-cutting initiatives, such as imposing a sugar tax, labeling the added sugar content, or reducing the amount of sugar in schools.” Banning sugary drinks,” he added. .


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Total Savings in America with Less Sugar

According to the model, 10 years after the NSSRI policy goes into effect, the US can expect to save $4.28 billion in health care costs and $118.04 billion over the lifetime of the current adult population (ages 35 to 79).

Furthermore, if the social cost of Americans’ lost productivity due to excessive sugar consumption is added to this, the total savings over the lifetime of the adult population increases to $160.88 billion.

The researchers also noted that real-world gains are likely to be much greater than their models predicted.

“Sugar is one of the most obvious additives in the food supply to reduce in reasonable amounts,” said co-senior author Dariusz Mozaffarian of Tufts University.

“Our findings suggest that it is time to implement a national program with voluntary sugar reduction targets, which could generate major improvements in health, health inequalities and health care spending in less than a decade.”

Consumption of sugar-rich foods and beverages has been linked to obesity and diseases such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease, which is the leading cause of death in the US.

(Edited by Rachel John)


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