Eating a lot of foods that spike your blood sugar quickly may raise your chance of getting heart disease—even if you’re otherwise healthy or don’t smoke or have high blood pressure.
Evidence from Studies
Supporting (3)
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This study found that women who ate a lot of foods that spike blood sugar quickly (like white bread and sugary snacks) had almost twice the risk of heart disease, even when accounting for other risk factors like smoking or weight.
Glycemic index, glycemic load, and risk of coronary heart disease: a pan-European cohort study.
This big study found that eating lots of foods that spike blood sugar (like white bread or sugary snacks) is linked to a higher chance of heart disease, even after accounting for other risk factors like smoking or high blood pressure — so yes, the claim is mostly right, but the 98% number is too high.
Dietary Glycemic Index, Glycemic Load, and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease, Stroke, and Stroke Mortality: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis
This study found that eating lots of high-sugar, high-refined-carb foods (high glycemic load) is linked to a higher chance of heart disease, especially in women and people who are overweight — so yes, it supports the idea that diet like this can hurt your heart.
Contradicting (1)
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Effects of low- and high-glycemic index/glycemic load diets on coronary heart disease risk factors in overweight/obese men.
This study gave people high-sugar and low-sugar diets for just 4 weeks and found no worse heart disease signs with the high-sugar diet — so it doesn’t support the idea that eating lots of sugary foods dramatically increases heart disease risk.
Gold Standard Evidence Needed
According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.