Attention Women! Hidden Heart Risk

Heart disease doesn’t discriminate.

While it is the leading killer of men in the US (killing nearly 350,000 men per year), women aren’t far behind that number, at 300,000 deaths per year.

A recent study found a hidden culprit that’s causing a woman’s risk of heart disease to skyrocket.

And, men, this is a warning for you as well.

Would you ever sit down at the dinner table and eat 8 teaspoons of sugar?

Of course not!

Dumb question, right?

But if you’ve ever consumed a 12-ounce can of regular soda (and let’s face it, most of us have), that’s exactly how much sugar you funneled into your body.

Sodas and other sugary drinks are by far the primary source of added sugars in the American diet. In fact, it’s estimated that the average American consumes 17 teaspoons of sugar every single day.

Yikes.

No wonder 72 percent of the country is overweight or obese.

But trying to lose those extra pounds isn’t the biggest reason to cut back on sugar.

A new study published by the Journal of the American Heart Association that analyzed over 100,000 women found that drinking sugary drinks increases a woman’s risk of heart disease by 23 percent.

Not a soda drinker? You’re not off the hook.

Sweetened bottled water, tea, and fruit drinks also count as sugary drinks—basically any drink that has added sugar.

Compared to women who never drank sugary drinks, those who drank more than one per day had a 26 percent higher risk of getting a procedure to open clogged arteries and a 21 percent higher risk of stroke.

Drinking one or more fruit drinks specifically was linked to a 42 percent higher risk of heart disease.

Sugar is bad news for your body. It increases glucose and insulin in your blood, which contributes to obesity, which contributes to heart disease.

It increases oxidative stress, inflammation, insulin resistance, and cholesterol, and it increases your risk of type 2 diabetes.

All of these things cause your arteries to become narrow, which sets you up for heart disease.

So how much sugar is too much?

According to the American Heart Association, women should limit sugar consumption to 6 teaspoons per day, and men to 9 teaspoons per day.

It’s not easy to cut back on added sugar.

And it’s even harder to cut it out of your life completely.

But when it comes to staying healthy, feeling energized, and even living longer, it’s one of the best things you can do for your body.