Quickest way to LOWER your blood pressure REVEALED....and it can be done in just 10 DAYS

Cutting out sugar could help improve your health

CUTTING sugar in diets – even without reducing calories – can improve your health in 10 days.

 

Blood pressure is dramatically lowered despite the dieter not losing any weight, according to new research. Scientists described their results as “astonishing”.

When sugar was restricted in the diet of obese children their blood pressure and cholesterol levels plummeted – even though they continued eating “unhealthy” food like crisps and pizza. The findings will boost calls for a tax on sugar, as championed recently by the TV chef Jamie Oliver.

The key fact in the ground-breaking research appears to be that we can still enjoy high-calorie foods, providing we reduce the sugar content in our overall diets. One in three British adults, 16 million people, has high blood pressure.

Researchers also found cutting sugar improves liver function in days. They said the study, published in the journal Obesity, showed sugar is bad for us “ because it is sugar”.

Lead author Dr Robert Lustig explained: “We were astonished at the results. Diastolic blood pressure (the measure of pressure in our arteries) decreased by five points. “Blood fat levels dropped precipitously. Fasting glucose decreased by five points, glucose tolerance improved markedly, insulin levels fell by 50per cent.

The study found that cutting down on sugar rather than calories is beneficial to your health

It is the strongest evidence to date that the negative effects of sugar are not because of calories or obesity

Dr Robert Lustig  

 

“This study definitively shows that sugar is metabolically harmful, not because of its calories or its effects on weight, sugar is metabolically harmful because it’s sugar. “It is the strongest evidence to date that the negative effects of sugar are not because of calories or obesity.” Scientists at the University of California San Francisco Benioff Children’s Hospital studied 43 children aged nine to 18.

All were obese and had at least one other chronic disorder, such as high blood pressure. For nine days, the children followed a meal plan that included all snacks and drinks but with a restricted sugar intake.

Added sugar was banned but fruit was allowed. Their diet overall had the same fat, protein, carbohydrate, and calorie levels as their previous diets at home. But carbohydrate from sugar were replaced by bagels, cereals and pasta. They were also allowed treats like hot dogs, crisps and pizza.

 

Jamie Oliver has been campaigning for a sugar tax

If the children lost weight, they were given more low sugar foods to keep weight stable. Total dietary sugar was reduced from 28 per cent to 10per cent. It led to swift improvements in health. Jean-Marc Schwarz, senior author of the paper, said: “I have never seen results as striking or significant.

“They were consuming the same number of calories as before, just with significantly less sugar. “After only nine days, the results are dramatic and consistent from subject to subject. These findings support the idea that it is essential for parents to evaluate sugar intake.”

Researchers believe it is the kind of calorie we take in that affects health. Dr Lustig explained: “Where those calories come from determines where in the body they go. Sugar calories are worst – they turn to fat in the liver.”

 

The study found that blood pressure was lower when sugar was cut from a diet

Malcolm Clark, of the Children’s Food Campaign, said: “Despite food industry protestations, more needs to be done to help people reduce sugar consumption.” The Government has so far ruled out a sugar tax.