Avoid sugar, save your own heart this Valentine's Day

Sorry to spoil your Valentine's Day party, but even though I have written extensively about the ill-effects of excess consumption of sugar, multiple times already, I can't resist writing about it again. Simply because it needs to be reiterated that sugar is a bigger devil than we all believe it to be.

It isn't just a harbinger of excess calories and love handles. It, in fact, leads to deeper damage that is far more extensive than just messing up of your blood sugar and weighing scale digits. This sweet devil actually ruins our heart big time, besides making us more susceptible to weight gain and diabetes (which, by the way, are two big cardiac disease risk factors too). Some studies predict a four-fold increase in the risk of heart attacks for those who indulge in excessive sugar consumption, and that's huge!

Here's what happens: by way of complex chemistry excess sugar that we eat gets split into glucose and fructose. While glucose mostly gets used up for our energy needs, the body does not usually know what to do with the excess fructose. So it ends up going to the liver, where this poor, already overburdened, organ (thanks to the kind of lifestyles we lead) does what it knows best: it converts it into fat, which skews up our lipid profile by increasing the concentrations of blood triglycerides and bad cholesterol.

Also read: Nine reasons why you must say no to excess sugar

That's not all! This also triggers reduced insulin sensitivity and increased deposition of fat in the liver and abdominal cavity (most risky spaces). And "all" four of these above-mentioned effects are big heart disease risk factors. So to spell it out simply, what this means is that too much sugar in our diet leads to increased risk of fatty liver, diabetes, and cardiac disorders. One mistake, three serious disorders!

Sugar also triggers inflammation - that we now know is at the root of heart disease. Plus there's another set of numbers that gets affected by how much sugar you consume: our blood pressure. Yes, sugar is apparently a partner in crime here with salt, and doctors now ask people to lower sugar consumption too to keep blood pressure stable. Some reports also suggest that excess sugar consumption might even lead to an increase in genetic propensity of heart disease. Basically what this means is that if there is a family history of heart disease, and you have a sweet tooth, that is a deadly combo as far as your heart's health is concerned.

Thin people are not exempt

One other scary fact that is becoming increasingly clear is that sugar may predispose a person to heart disease even without causing obesity. So in effect, one could be boasting about how he never gains weight while continuing to indulge in daily gaulab jamun/ice cream treats, and in the meantime, his heart may, in fact, be packing up inside without any warning signs. Often in such cases, a heart attack is the first warning, and by then the damage has already been done. So slim or overweight, sugar is everyone's enemy.

Chew on thus

Finally, a fact everyone must know and acknowledge: the biggest culprits are sugar-sweetened beverages including sodas, juices, sports drinks, tea and coffee (yes, even more that the desserts that you eat). So please think before you gulp.