Sugar depletes vital heart-health minerals

It’s not surprising heart disease is the number one killer of North Americans, considering the fact, unless your daily diet is comprised of only unprocessed, whole foods and drinks, you’re undoubtedly consuming added sugars like glucose and fructose, in their many disguises, and moving one step closer to heart disease, gray hair and wrinkles.

A 2020 study in the journal Nutrients found when dietary fructose and glucose were consumed daily for two weeks, as sources of sugar in beverages, it was enough to adversely affect copper metabolism, as well as zinc, in healthy, young adults. Why does it matter? Because copper deficiency is considered a “major” contributing factor in the cause of coronary heart disease, according to Dr. L.M. Klevay’s early research at the Human Nutrition Centre.

Researchers first made the connection between copper deficiency and heart disease in 1936 through animal studies. Then, in 1973, researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Human Nutrition Center determined copper is involved with the control of cholesterol. In 1975 the same researchers, Dr. Klevay and his team, found copper complexes play a key anti-inflammatory role in heart health. Their studies point to the use of supplements to not only prevent, but also control diseases like coronary heart disease, aortic aneurysms and myocardial infarction.

Dr. Joel Wallach, a pioneer in biochemical research and trace element research, and the author of over 70 articles in pharmaceutical and nutrition research published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, revealed, based on animal studies, most aneurysms are caused by copper deficiency.  His research shows copper is necessary for elastin synthesis. A deficiency can affect the elasticity of the aorta, he found.

His studies also connect the dots between chronic copper deficiency and gray hair and wrinkles.

A 1972 study in the Lancet found that 75 per cent of the North American diet falls short of the 2mg recommended daily allowance of copper, to maintain health. That was in 1972, before fast food and highly processed foods inundated the market, and became daily food fare for much of the population. And, since as early as 1936, U.S. Congress was warned that the soils are depleted of micronutrients, causing 99 per cent of the population to be mineral deficient.

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