Cutting Down on Sugar can Lower Blood Pressure and Cholesterol in Nine Days

By Deepthi B - 28 Oct '15 10:24AM

According to a new study published in the journal Obesity, by simply cutting down sugar from your diet that too without cutting down on the calories or losing weight, can tremendously improve your health within a span of just nine days, reports the Daily Mail. The study involved monitoring obese children, and the research found a startling conjunction between a lessened-sugar diet and lowered blood pressure and cholesterol.

This study particularly focused on the effect of restricting sugar on metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions that increases the risk of heart diseases, stroke and Type 2 diabetes. This syndrome can apparently result in high blood pressure, high blood glucose levels, worsened liver functionality, excess body fat and abnormal cholesterol levels. A cut in sugar intake saw a significant improvement in liver functioning, blood pressure, glucose levels, cholesterol levels etc. This is as per reports by The Telegraph.

Around 43 children in the age group of 9 to 18 years old, took part in the study at the University of California from San Francisco (UCSF) Benioff Children's Hospital. The children were obese and also associated with one other chronic disorder such as high blood pressure. The Telegraph reports that during the time period of the study, the children followed a similar diet plan as followed at home with the same amounts of fat, carbohydrates, proteins, calories etc. All the snacks and drinks they had were similar to what they were previously having at homes, but the sugar intake was restricted as part of the study. The positive results where noticed within a quick nine days.

"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." Said Dr Robert Lustig, Lead Author of the study, reports Express.co.uk.