Health Hotline Magazine | February 2021

American Heart Health Month was established 57 years ago, with President Lyndon Johnson urging “the people of the United States to give heed to the nationwide problem of the heart and blood-vessel diseases, and to support the programs required to bring about its solution.” i But nearly six decades later, we haven’t reached a solution, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the number one killer of both sexes and most all races and ethnicities in the U.S. ii Dietary guidelines born from that era that tell us to eat a low-fat diet to reduce the risk of CVD have completely missed the mark, while the real perpetrators have been steadily entrenching themselves into our diets for decades: REFINED GRAIN BASED CARBOHYDRATES AND SUGAR. WANT A HEALTHY HEART? DITCH THE SUGAR & REFINED CARBS. BY LINDSAY WILSON

America has a refined carb and sugar problem—we eat way too much of the stu . The average American eats 77 grams of sugar and between 350 and 600 grams of carbs every day (to maintain healthy blood sugar balance, you should aim to eat no more than 150 grams of carbs daily; when it comes to added sugar,

the American Heart Association recommends no more than 37 grams for men and no more than25 grams for women per day). iii iv v Refined grain-based carbohydrates and added sugars have become the base of the Standard American Diet, and it’s terrible for blood sugar balance, overall health, and heart health.

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