We have been blaming salt as the bad guy for high blood pressure but, it could actually be all the added sugar. People that consume 10% to 25% of their calories from sugar have a 30% increased risk of dying from disease, such as cardiovascular disease. It builds threefold if they consume more than 25%,
Women should not have more than 2 tsp and men should have no more than 4 tsp of added sugar per day. Americans on average consume approximately 286 pounds of sugar per year. That is like eating bout 67 tsp of added sugar a day. Teenagers often take in more sugar than that, and have it make-up 52% of their daily calories.
With all this extra sugar, insulin levels increase which causes increased heart rate and blood pressure. Long term exposure can lead to diabetes, obesity, fatty liver and heart disease. Those are only a few of the major health issue that come along with having too much sugar.
Secret: Always watch your sugars.