February is heart month, and one of the best ways to bolster your heart’s health is to moderate what you eat. You’ve probably heard that eating more veggies and fruits, and cutting back on unhealthy fats (like fried foods) is an important way to keep your heart fit. But you may be surprised to learn that one of the top tips for protecting your ticker is to curb your intake of sugar.
Currently the average adult takes in a whopping 22 teaspoons of added sugar daily, an amount that snowballs into the equivalent of more than 14 four-pound sacks of sugar per person each year! All that sweet stuff has been tied to an increased risk of heart disease, which is why the American Heart Association has set daily targets for how much we should consume. The cap is no more than six level teaspoons for women, and nine for men – that’s for both food and beverages combined. The guidelines are strict compared to what most Americans eat, but definitely doable.