Less sweet treats during pregnancy and up to age two associated with lower dementia risk later in life, delayed onset of the disease and a healthier brain, according to a new study.
The research suggests that reducing sugar intake during the earliest stages of life was associated with a lower risk of dementia, a later onset of the disease and better markers of brain health in later life.
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“Limiting sugar during the earliest stages of life may have lasting benefits for brain health,” said study author Jiazhen Zheng, of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in Guangzhou, China. “These results highlight the potential importance of early-life nutrition in reducing the risk of dementia decades later.”
Researchers analysed data from nearly 65,000 people born before and after World War II, when the British government introduced sugar rationing across the United Kingdom.
Sugar rationing, introduced during and after the war, ended in 1953. Once restrictions were lifted, average daily sugar consumption nearly doubled, rising from around 41g to 80g.
The researchers grouped participants according to their exposure to sugar rationing: those exposed before birth and during their first year of life, those exposed before birth and up to the age of two, and those born after rationing had ended.
Using medical records from the time participants were around 55 years old, the researchers tracked dementia diagnoses over the following 15 years.
People exposed to sugar rationing before birth and during their first year of life had a 21% lower risk of dementia than those born after sugar rationing ended. Those exposed to rationing before birth and up to the age of two had a 23% lower risk of dementia.
Among people who developed dementia, those exposed to lower sugar levels early in life were diagnosed an average of 2.6 years later than those who were not.
“Sugar restriction in the first 1,000 days was associated with lower dementia hazards, delayed onset, and more favorable brain-health profiles,” researchers wrote, adding that the findings support reducing sugar intake early in life as a potential strategy to lower dementia risk.
“Limiting added sugars during pregnancy and infancy may be one beneficial step that families and communities can take,” Zheng said, while stressing that further research is needed to understand how early-life sugar exposure influences dementia risk.
