Why sugar might be worse for your heart than butter
The Evidence for Saturated Fat and for Sugar Related to Coronary Heart Disease.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
This study says eating too much sugar—especially in soda and candy—is way worse for your heart than eating butter or cheese. Replacing butter with white bread or sugary snacks makes your blood fats worse and can hurt your heart more.
Surprising Findings
Fructose from sugar causes more vascular damage than glucose or starch.
People assume all sugars are equal, but fructose uniquely drives oxidized LDL and advanced glycation end products (AGEs)—toxic compounds that stiffen arteries and cause inflammation.
Practical Takeaways
Cut out sugary drinks and processed snacks—swap soda for water, candy for fruit, and white bread for whole grains or protein.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
This study says eating too much sugar—especially in soda and candy—is way worse for your heart than eating butter or cheese. Replacing butter with white bread or sugary snacks makes your blood fats worse and can hurt your heart more.
Surprising Findings
Fructose from sugar causes more vascular damage than glucose or starch.
People assume all sugars are equal, but fructose uniquely drives oxidized LDL and advanced glycation end products (AGEs)—toxic compounds that stiffen arteries and cause inflammation.
Practical Takeaways
Cut out sugary drinks and processed snacks—swap soda for water, candy for fruit, and white bread for whole grains or protein.
Publication
Journal
Progress in cardiovascular diseases
Year
2016
Authors
J. DiNicolantonio, Sean C. Lucan, J. O’Keefe
Related Content
Claims (10)
If you swap out foods like butter and cheese for things like white bread and sugary snacks, it might raise your blood sugar and fat levels after meals, which could make your heart more likely to get sick.
Eating a lot of sugary foods and drinks—especially those with fructose like table sugar or high-fructose corn syrup—may triple your chance of dying from heart disease.
Eating fructose (like in sugary drinks) might be worse for your body than eating glucose (like in bread), because it can lead to more harmful fat buildup, insulin problems, and higher uric acid — all of which could increase your risk of heart disease.
Not all saturated fats are the same—some kinds, like those in dairy or coconut oil, might actually help your good cholesterol go up and bad cholesterol go down, while others, like those in red meat, might make your bad cholesterol worse.
If you swap out foods high in saturated fats (like butter or cheese) for sugary snacks and drinks, it might mess up your blood fats in a bad way—raising triglycerides, lowering good cholesterol, and raising total cholesterol—which could make your heart more at risk.