Share:
Scandals Scientists paid by the sugar industry for fake study results
More than 50 years ago, researchers at the renowned Harvard University studied the health effects of sugar. What only became known now: The results published at that time obviously reflected only a part of the truth. The US sugar industry is said to have paid the researchers that the connection between a high sugar consumption and cardiac disorders was glossed over.
High sugar intake damages your health
Too much sugar makes you fat and sick - this has already been proven in many studies. Physicians have warned for some time about the serious consequences of high sugar intake such as obesity, dental diseases or diabetes. However, an important detail remains largely unknown to the public until now: high levels of sugar intake seem to pose a similarly high risk of cardiovascular disease as the high intake of saturated fatty acids. This emerges from historical documents analyzed by scientists from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.
Harvard researchers are said to have received a lot of money in the 1960s for whitewashing a sugar study. (Image: Syda Productions / fotolia.com) Deceived public for years?
Thus, the debate over the relationship between sugar and heart disease may have been influenced by the sugar industry for decades, the university reports in a recent release. The background to this assumption is a study on heart disease and its causes, which was conducted in 1967 at the prestigious Harvard University School of Public Health. Involved were the three nutritionists Frederick Stare, Robert McGandy and Mark Hegsted, who published their findings in the "New England Journal of Medicine".
Industry Association pays $ 50,000
As the researchers of the University of California now discovered, the study at that time was supposed to show that it is not sugar, but mainly fat and cholesterol, that are responsible for heart disease. Because the Harvard scientists mentioned in their report, that also a high sugar consumption is associated with the frequency of a heart attack - in the conclusion, however, this important detail was concealed.
The analysis of the historical documents also revealed that at that time the researchers had received a very large amount of money for the study. The University reports that the Sugar Research Foundation (SRF) has paid around $ 50,000 to work on sugar, fat and heart disease. The SRF was a forerunner of today's industry association of the US sugar industry ("Sugar Association").
Scientists argue about causes of rising heart attacks
The reason for the study was the discussion in the US at the time about the reasons for the then drastically increasing number of fatal cardiovascular diseases. In this two camps were facing, which were led by two prominent physiologists, according to the report of the UCSF researchers: The English nutritionist John Yudkin took the view that the increased consumption of sugared foods for the rise of heart attacks was responsible. The American scientist Ancel Keys, however, identified in the food as the main cause of fats and saturated fat and cholesterol.
Study on the distraction of sugar criticism
To distract from Yudkin's criticism, the Sugar Research Foundation finally commissioned the Harvard study, entitled Project 226. The conclusion of the then research team: There is "no doubt" that the only nutritional measure to prevent coronary heart disease is to reduce cholesterol in the diet and replace polyunsaturated fatty acids with saturated ones, according to the University.
"As the saying goes: who pays, may also determine," said study author Stanton A. Glantz. "There are all sorts of ways in which you can subtly manipulate the outcome of a study, and the industry is very well-versed in it," said the professor of medicine and director of the UCSF Research Center for Tobacco Control and Education.
Scientists confirm negative influence of sugar
Today, genetic predisposition, lack of exercise and obesity as a result of a diet that is too high in fat and sugar are considered to be central risk factors for high cholesterol and heart disease. This is also confirmed by Harvard University: "Given the data we have today, it is clear that refined sugars and particularly sugary drinks are a risk factor for cardiovascular disease," said Walter Willett, Department of Nutrition, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health opposite the "New York Times". But the type of fats in the diet is very important, the expert stresses. Above all, a high consumption of saturated fatty acids from foods of animal origin is considered a risk factor.
"Reviewing the literature not only helped shape public opinion on what causes heart problems, but also the scientific community's understanding of how to assess nutritional risk factors for heart disease," says lead author Cristin Kearns, summing up the study. (No)