( CNN ) -- Sugar lovers may have to face a bitter truth : The less sugar added to foods for typical people , the better are their blood-fat profiles and the lower are their cardiovascular risks , a study to be published Wednesday concludes . `` We found that the lower the amount of added sugar people ate , the better their good cholesterol and their blood triglyceride levels , '' said co-author Dr. Miriam B. Vos , assistant professor of pediatrics at Emory University in Atlanta , Georgia , and author of `` The No-Diet Obesity Solution for Kids . '' Unfortunately for dessert lovers , the converse is true . Increased sugars are associated with important cardiovascular disease risk factors , according to the report . The authors cited lower levels of HDL-C , which is sometimes referred to as the good cholesterol , and higher levels of triglycerides . The study , to be published in the Journal of the American Medical Association , highlights a trend some nutritionists consider disturbing : In recent years , the typical American 's diet has increasingly incorporated added sugars . The authors defined them as `` caloric sweeteners used by the food industry and consumers as ingredients in processed or prepared foods to increase the desirability of those foods . '' Data from the mid-1990s show that 15.8 percent of the typical American 's diet was composed of added sugar -- 21.4 teaspoons or 359 calories per day . That 's up from 10.6 percent in 1977-1978 . Added sugars have been linked to obesity , diabetes and tooth decay . The researchers studied 6,113 adults enrolled in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey . Interviewers called them and asked what they had eaten the previous day , then estimated the total added sugar in each person 's diet . Participants were then separated into groups : Those who got less than 5 percent of total calories from added sugar ; 5 percent to less than 10 percent ; 10 percent to less than 17.5 percent ; 17.5 percent to less than 25 percent ; and 25 percent or more . Those in the highest-consuming added sugar group eat about 46 teaspoons of added sugar per day , the study said . Those who consumed more added sugar tended to be younger , non-Latino blacks with low income , it said . The report says 18.5 percent of Americans get at least 25 percent of their calories from added sugar . The strongest relationship between added sugar and blood fats was found in values for HDL-C , which fell from 58.7 mg/dl for those who ate the least added sugar to 47.7 mg/dl for those who ate the most . A higher HDL-C level is associated with a lower cardiovascular risk . Among some blood fats linked to higher cardiovascular risk , the converse was true : Triglyceride levels went from 105 mg/dl in the group that ate the least sugar to 114 mg/dl in the group that ate the most . The so-called bad cholesterol , LDL-C , went from 116 mg/dl for women who ate the least sugar to 123 mg/dl for women who ate the most . There were no significant trends for LDL-C among men . The authors concluded that their data support dietary guidelines that aim to cut consumption of added sugar . But those guidelines are all over the map . The Institute of Medicine recommends no more than 25 percent of total energy from added sugars ; the World Health Organization recommends less than 10 percent ; and the American Heart Association has recently advised no more than 100 calories per day for women and 150 calories per day for men , which works out to about 5 percent . `` What it really means is we have to go back to things like whole grains and vegetables and fruit and eat things in moderation in order to be healthy , '' Vos said . `` Plus , a good healthy dose of activity . '' But the study compiled data based on a single day 's consumption , and it was not clear whether that day was representative of other days , she said . `` We do n't know that all of the people had their usual diet the day before , '' she said . `` There are always some weaknesses in that kind of data . '' Carbohydrates have been linked for decades to abnormal blood fat levels , `` but a big contemporary issue is added sugars , '' said Dr. Frank Sacks , professor of nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston , Massachusetts . Vos ' study `` fills in a gap in the science base . '' The study will likely be discussed next month when the American Heart Association takes up the matter of added sugars at its meeting in Washington , he said . `` We just overeat too damn much , '' he said . `` What this study is saying is that , for some groups -- especially young people , black , poor -- sugar is just way too big a proportion of their intake . '' `` The real truth is that we 're supposed to eat a balanced diet , less processed food , '' said Carla Wolper , a nutritionist at the Obesity Research Center at St. Luke 's Hospital in New York and assistant professor at Columbia University 's Eating Disorders Center . Wolper praised the study for its size and careful construction . But Dr. Richard K. Bernstein , a diabetes specialist based in Mamaroneck , New York , was unimpressed . `` This is just one more study showing that carbohydrates create abnormal lipid profiles , '' he said .
Added sugar is associated with cardiovascular disease risk factors , he finds . Study : Lower added - sugar intake leads to better levels of good health . Study to be published in the Journal of the American Medical Association . Those who ate more added sugar tend to be low - income , younger non - Latino blacks .