Calories are no longer humanity's greatest enemy, but sugar. Not only does the nutrient induce weight gain, but it significantly increases the chances of cardiovascular disease, the Los Angeles Times reported.

A new study published Monday specifically focused on added sugars, defined as "all sugars used in processed or prepared foods, such as sugar-sweetened beverages, grain-based desserts, fruit drinks, dairy desserts, candy, ready-to-eat cereals, and yeast breads, but not naturally according sugar, such as in fruits and fruit juices."

Americans, like they have for the last twenty years, consume significantly more added sugar per day than is necessary. In fact, seventy percent of those surveyed exceeded the recommended 10 percent of one's daily calories. Ten percent followed a diet containing 25 percent sugar, according to the study.

Dividing the survey responders into five groups based on sugar consumption, researchers found that those in the highest consuming group were twice as likely to die from cardiovascular disease than those from the lowest group, controlling for all other factors like age, gender, race, income, smoking and drinking history, exercise habits, and body mass index (meaning sugar was the determining factor).

"Too much sugar does not just make us fat; it can also make us sick," wrote Laura A. Schmidt, a professor of health policy at the UC San Francisco School of Medicine and co-author of the study.

Whereas previous studies linked sugars to obesity and then to death, this study provides evidence for a connection to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, liver cirrhosis, dementia, and more. 

Schmidt should have consulted Steve Nash in 2009. The two time NBA MVP wrote a column for Men's Magazine describing how he gave up added sugar in order to boost his immune system and improve his overall health.