Sugar Consumption and Heart Disease: An Evidence-Based Analysis

Running head: SCIENTIFIC REPORT
Scientific Report
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SCIENTIFIC REPORT
Introduction
Considerable research has been undertaken in the recent past to understand the
relationship between blood glucose level of individuals and the risk of suffering heart diseases. It
has been well known that increased consumption has a detrimental impact on the health of
individuals, and the direct link with heart disease has gained more attention in the medical field.
Numerous studies have claimed that individuals suffering from high blood glucose level due to
increased sugar consumption are at more risk of cardiovascular disease as the same is a predictor
of atherosclerosis. The underlying principle is that sugar is a carbohydrate providing energy to
the body with no other additional nutritional benefits. The present paper evaluates the claim that
‘sugar causes heart disease’ and builds an evidence based argument. The analysis is done on the
basis of empirical evidence gathered through research of suitable articles. Research conducted in
the past ten years have been included for this paper to make it up-to-date and noteworthy.
Analysis
Association between diabetes and cardiovascular diseases
A close association between diabetes and cardiovascular disease was pointed out by Leon
and Maddox (2015). Factors that act as the risk driving ones for cardiovascular disease like
obesity, hypertension and dyslipidemia are mostly to occur in individuals who suffer from
diabetes mellitus, thus increasing the risk for cardiac events. Higher level of free fatty-acid
release present in insulin-resistant fat cells is the underlying mechanism. Increased free-fatty acid
level are responsible for promoting triglyceride production, thereby stimulating the secretion of
apolipoprotein B (ApoB) and very LDL (VLDL) cholesterol. Augmented levels of both of these

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are associated with chances of developing CVD. In case of diabetic patients, renal cells are
known to get stimulated through hyperglycemia, becoming the cause of release of cytokine,
humoral mediators and growth factors. This change is thereby known to lead to alterations in
structural bodies in the glomeruli such as including hyaline arteriolosclerosis. The changes are
responsible for increasing filtration pressure and renin-angiotensin system (RAAS). Chronic
activation progresses to hypertension, and subsequently cardiovascular conditions.
Szablewski (2016) studied diabetic heart condition and realized that type 1 diabetes
brings changes in the expression and translocationof GLUT4 and GLUT8 in the atria which are
glucose transport proteins. In patients with diabetic atria, there is a deregulation of the content of
the cell surface of the transporters. There is an increase in the expression of SGLT1 with end-
stage cardiomyopathy secondary to type 2 diabetes. The research by von Haeling (2016) brought
into limelight that diabetes and heart failure are interlinked. The mechanisms for the influence of
high blood sugar level include atherosclerosis, increased lipid accumulation and oxidative stress,
altered insulin signaling and mitochondrial dysfunction in the myocardium. Shah et al., (2015)
had mentioned some of the pivotal cardiovascular outcomes for type 2 diabetes. These were
heart failure, peripheral arterial disease, abdominal aortic aneurysm, and ventricular arrhythmias.
Another study in this topic is that of de Mattos Matheus et al., (2013). The review paper
mentioned that cardiovascular disease is more prominent in those having obesity and poor
glycemic control. The proposed mechanisms that support the accelerated risk of atherosclerosis
in diabetic patients revolve around epigenetic factors that lead to interactions between the
environment and the genes of the individual.
Al-Nozha et al., (2016) published a valuable research on relationship between diabetes
mellitus and coronary artery disease. Patients with diabetes present with lipid-rich atherosclerotic

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plaques, and the chances of these to rupture is more in such individuals as compared to those
who are not diabetic. In diabetic patients, there is increased thrombus formation, a result of blood
coagulability and platelet activation.
Source: de Mattos Matheus et al., (2013)
Association between sugar-sweetened beverages and risk of coronary heart disease
According to Huang et al., (2013) habitual consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages
(SSB) has a detrimental impact on the human body, such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension,
stroke and metabolic syndrome. The researchers carried out a meta-analysis with research studies
assessing the relationship between the consumption of such beverages and risk of cardiovascular