The amount of sugar consumed during the earliest years of life may have consequences that extend well into adulthood, with new research linking lower early-life sugar exposure to reduced rates of several cancers, slower biological aging and healthier eating habits decades later.
The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in early August, examined 64,761 people born in Britain between 1951 and 1956. During part of that period, Britain was still rationing sugar and other foods in the aftermath of World War II.
Researchers drew on information from the UK Biobank to examine the long-term health of people whose first 1,000 days of life occurred while sugar rationing was in place and compared them with individuals born after those restrictions ended.
The first 1,000 days encompass the period beginning at conception and continuing through a child’s second birthday, a relatively short window that is considered especially important for growth and development.
It is also during these early years that dietary tastes and preferences begin taking shape, raising the possibility that the foods available during infancy and early childhood could influence eating patterns — and potentially health — many decades later.
Researchers uncovered particularly striking differences when examining cancer rates. Those who experienced sugar rationing during their first 1,000 days had substantially lower risks of developing several forms of cancer compared with those who did not.
The study found a 69 percent lower risk of liver cancer, a 52 percent reduction in prostate cancer risk, a 41 percent lower risk of lung cancer, a 40 percent reduction in rectal cancer risk and a 36 percent lower risk of breast cancer among those exposed to early-life sugar restrictions.
The apparent benefits were not limited to cancer. Researchers also found evidence suggesting that people exposed to sugar rationing early in life experienced slower biological aging.
As part of the analysis, scientists examined telomeres, the protective structures at the ends of chromosomes that have been associated with aging and longevity. Participants who experienced sugar rationing during their first 1,000 days had longer telomeres than those who did not, with researchers estimating that the difference corresponded to slightly more than two additional years of life expectancy.
The study also suggested that the effects of the early dietary environment could be seen in eating behavior more than half a century later. Adults who had been exposed to sugar rationing early in life tended to consume less sugar, eat smaller portions and follow healthier and more varied diets.
Britain’s postwar sugar rationing has previously provided researchers with a natural experiment for examining how sugar consumption during early development might affect health later in life.
In another recently published study, researchers found that individuals who experienced sugar rationing during their first 1,000 days had significantly lower rates of anxiety and depression as adults.
Other research using the same historical circumstances has also linked early-life sugar rationing with lower rates of chronic illness, decreased odds of developing Alzheimer’s disease and improved cardiovascular health.
Despite the substantial differences identified between the groups, researchers emphasized that the findings do not establish a direct cause-and-effect relationship. Because the study was observational, it cannot prove that reducing sugar intake during the first years of life was itself responsible for the better health outcomes seen decades later.
{Matzav.com}
