Sugar industry duped us for 50 years, blaming fat for heart disease

Following an analysis of recently uncovered documents, the sugar industry paid researchers to cast doubt on the dangers of their products.

The critical analysis was published earlier this week in Jama Internal Medicine and shows that as early as the 1960s, the sugar industry managed to shift the blame for heart disease to saturated fat, claiming that sugar was a necessary part of the human diet. The analysis consists of correspondence between researchers at Harvard University and people from a sugar trade group. This analysis is just the latest example of the methods beverage and food makers use to shape and mislead our understanding of nutrition.

Sugar Association started its campaign in 1964

It was back in 1964 that the Sugar Association started its campaign to basically get rid of any negative attitudes towards sugar. This followed several studies – found in the public archives – that had linked sugar with heart disease. In the following year, the Sugar Association approved what was dubbed “Project 226,” a project that was set up to pay Harvard researchers what would be the equivalent today of $48,900, to publish an article reviewing the scientific literature about sugar, by giving the researchers the material they wanted reviewed.

One NYT reader’s reaction to how the sugar industry shaped the debate around heart disease https://t.co/ggMeNTgBrK pic.twitter.com/WLfFZhVpep

— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 12, 2016

In 1967, “Project 226” published an article which concluded there was “no doubt” in researchers’ minds that the only dietary intervention needed to prevent heart disease was to reduce saturated fat and cholesterol from the diet. Along the way, the article downplayed any studies on sugar. Reportedly an employee from the sugar industry had written to one of the article’s authors that what they had written was exactly what they had in mind and they looked forward to seeing it published. However, at the time the article was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, there was no reference to the role and funding of the research by the sugar industry.

Sugar industry paid scientists in the 60s to promote saturated fat as the culprit for heart disease & downplay sugar https://t.co/jGn2x5sTlX

— Joe Rogan (@joerogan) September 13, 2016

However, Monday this week saw an editorial published where Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition at New York University, noted that for several decades after that study, both health officials and scientists focused their attention on reducing consumption saturated fat, and not sugar, in an effort to prevent heart disease. 

According to Nestle, scientists continue working in an effort to understand the links between diet and heart disease, but that concern has recently shirted to sugars and away from fat. In fact, a committee that advises the federal government on dietary guidelines has said that the current evidence available shows that there is no appreciable relationship between heart disease in humans and dietary cholesterol, while still, however, recommending limiting the consumption of saturated fats.

 

Sugar is guilty as charged

On the other hand, the American Heart Association has since cited research published in 2014 that states too much sugar does increase the risk of heart disease. The authors of the study did, however, say the biological reasons are not yet fully understood.

Photo by AnnaM/CC BY-NC 2.0