Added sugar bad for cholesterol?

As reported in USA Today

Worried about your cholesterol? You may need to cut back on your sugar intake, a new study suggests. For years, medical experts have said that to reduce your cardiovascular disease risk, you need to watch your consumption of saturated (animal) fat and cholesterol. They also have known that high intake of added sugars is linked to many poor health conditions, including obesity, high blood pressure and other risk factors for heart disease and stroke. But this is one of the first studies to take a close look at the association between added sugars and cholesterol in adults.

Bonnie - this is me bursting out in laughter! One of the first studies. What a joke. For years, health professionals worth their salt have known that sugar is just as much a risk factor, if not more, for bad cholesterol than saturated fat. And as I have said incessantly, it is not all about LDL (bad cholesterol). Cardiac risk has just as much to do with low HDL (good cholesterol), high triglycerides, and high C-Reactive Protein.

Researchers at Emory University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta examined the added sugar intake and blood fat levels in more than 6,100 adults. Added sugars included table sugar, brown sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, molasses, brown rice syrup, agave syrup and other caloric sweeteners in prepared and processed foods — for instance, in soft drinks, iced tea, candy, pastries, cookies and canned fruits. Not included: the sugars in fruit, 100% juice and other whole foods.

Findings in Journal of the American Medical Association:

• Participants consumed an average of 21.4 teaspoons of added sugars a day, or more than 320 calories a day from these sources.
• About 16% of participants' total daily caloric intake was from added sugars. That compares with 11% in 1977-78.
• People with the higher intakes of added sugars were more likely to have lower levels of HDL (good) cholesterol and higher levels of triglycerides (blood fats).
  

"We need to get used to consuming foods and drinks that are less sweet," says senior author Miriam Vos, an assistant professor at Emory. "People have been so focused on fat that we haven't been focused on sugar, and it's gotten away from us. This data show we can't let either one or the other get too high."

Bonnie - where have you heard this line before?