Would Sugar Kill You?

Eating too much added sugar increases the risk of dying with heart disease. A sugar-laden diet may raise your risk of dying of heart disease even if you aren't overweight. So says a major study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Added sugars make up at least 10% of the calories the average American eats in a day.

How much sugar does it take to die?

ACS researchers have found that the LD50 of sugar – that's the lethal dose of a sugar that would kill half the population of a test group – is 13.5 grams per pound of body weight, consumed all at once.

How dangerous is sugar to the body?

When you eat excess sugar, the extra insulin in your bloodstream can affect your arteries all over your body. It causes their walls to get inflamed, grow thicker than normal and more stiff, this stresses your heart and damages it over time. This can lead to heart disease, like heart failure, heart attacks, and strokes.