Sugar - not salt - is to blame for high blood pressure, US researchers claim.

They argue that high sugar levels affect a key area of the brain which causes the heart rate to quicken and blood pressure to rise.

The scientists from New York and Kansas also highlight a recent study of 8,670 French adults which found no link between salt and high blood pressure.

For years the public have been urged to slash their salt intake and guidelines state it should be restricted to a teaspoon a day.

Experts say it increases the risk of strokes by a quarter and it has been blamed on 3 million deaths worldwide annually.

But in an article in the American Journal of Cardiology, researchers led by Dr James DiNicolantonio state ‘It is sugar not the salt that may be the actual causative factor for high blood pressure.

‘This notion is supported by meta analyses of randomised control trials (large-scale studies) suggesting that sugar is more strongly related to blood pressure in humans than sodium.

‘Encouraging consumers to hold the sugar, not the salt, may be the better dietary strategy to achieve blood pressure control.’
Around a quarter of adults in the UK have high blood pressure and it greatly increases the risk of strokes and heart disease.

This research is further evidence of the health risks posed by eating too much sugar.

In June, officials issued new guidelines urging the public to limit themselves to between five and seven teaspoons a day over concerns it is causing obesity and type 2 diabetes.

The American researchers believe that high sugar levels affect a key area of the brain called the hypothalamus which causes the heart rate to quicken and blood pressure to rise.

They also think it may cause our bodies to produce more insulin, a hormone, which may also speed up the heart rate.

Dr DiNicolantonio, a heart disease research scientist at Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City also contradicts experts who claim reducing salt consumptions will lower levels of obesity and heart disease.

He adds: ‘We argue the opposite, a reduction in salt intake may lead to an increased intake in processed foods (and added sugars) and, thereby, increase the risk of diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease.’

The reasons are complicated but it is thought that low salt levels increase the amount of certain fats in the blood.

Dr Aseem Malhotra, a cardiologist and science director of Action on Sugar, a campaign group, said the public health risk posed by sugar had been underestimated.

He added: ‘We know that sugar does not provide any nutrients and there is growing evidence it is an independent risk factor for many diseases.

But Professor Graham McGregor, an expert in cardiovascular medicine at Queen Mary, the University of London, said the evidence blaming sugar rather than salt for high blood pressure was ‘incredibly weak.’

He said that research spanning several decades had shown a strong link between salt and high blood pressure.

Guidelines from Public Health England, the agency responsible for tackling obesity, in June stated that women should have no more than five to six teaspoons of sugar a day and men seven to eight.

But the average adult consumes 15 teaspoons largely due to the high levels of hidden sugar in fruit juice, muesli, yoghurts, sandwiches and ready meals.

Some experts want the Government to impose a sugar tax on fizzy drinks although ministers have so far rejected these calls.

The Government's chief advisor on obesity, Professor Susan Jebb, has also urged parents to ban fruit juice and fizzy drinks from the dinner table and stick to water.

Experts are also worried that sugar is behind an increase in tooth decay in children and could affect their ability to learn.

參考譯文：

高血壓，很大程度上是高鹽攝入惹得禍——之前的研究如是說。不不不！是糖，不是鹽！一項來自美國的科學家的震撼性最新研究說。

多年來，WHO、CDC、FDA一直把引發高血壓發病率持續走高的很大一部分罪責歸于公眾的高鹽飲食，而高血壓是導致心血管病死亡的首位危險因素。其中約25%心血管病死亡歸咎于高鹽飲食導致的高血壓，全球每年約有300萬人因此死亡。公共機構反復呼吁公眾控制鈉攝入，每天食鹽攝入量控制在5克（WHO）、6克（CDC）以內。

美國心臟病雜志發布的一篇最新研究認為，“并非高鹽，事實上引發高血壓的更可能是高糖飲食。”

來自美國紐約和堪薩斯的科學家研究認為，高血糖水平作用于下丘腦的某個關鍵部位，引起心率加快、血壓升高。

同時，他們還指出，高血糖將刺激人體分泌更多的胰島素，這種激素同樣刺激心率加快。

領導這項研究的DiNicolantonio博士說：“我們的觀點還得到了隨機對照試驗（大型研究）薈萃分析證據的支持。分析結果表明，與鈉相比，糖與高血壓的相關性更加密切。”

“應該鼓勵消費者控制糖，而不是鹽的攝入量，才可能是更好的控制血壓的飲食策略。”

心臟病專家、控糖運動小組科學總監、Malhotra博士認為，糖對公眾健康構成的風險被低估了。

“我們知道，糖不提供熱量以外的其他任何營養成分，而且有越來越多的證據表明，它是許多疾病的一個獨立危險因素”，他補充說。

原始來源：http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2755288/Sugar-worse-blood-pressure-salt-shock-new-research-reveals.html