Limiting sugar before age of two ‘linked to lower risk of dementia’

Limiting sugar before the age of two is linked to a lower risk of dementia later in life, research suggests.

A study based on almost 65,000 people from the UK found that sugar rationing may be linked to more than a fifth lower chance of dementia.

Experts suggested exposure to sugar in the womb and early life may affect how the baby receives nutrients as well as metabolic processes.

The new study used UK Biobank data, which includes people exposed to sugar rationing as a result of the Second World War.

In 1940, the British government began rationing certain foods, including sugar, and this lasted until 1953.

Previous studies on the same group found they were less likely to suffer conditions such as heart attack, heart failure and stroke if they had little sugar in early childhood and if their mothers had little sugar in pregnancy.

In the latest research, published in the journal Neurology, experts looked at 64,737 people who were born before and after sugar rationing in the UK.

They found people who experienced sugar rationing before birth and up to age one had a 21% lower risk of dementia compared with people born after sugar rationing.

If sugar was restricted up to the age of two, the drop was bigger at 23%.

Those people with lower sugar intake also developed dementia an average of 2.6 years later, the research found.

“Our findings suggest that limiting sugar during the earliest stages of life may have lasting benefits for brain health,” said study author Jiazhen Zheng, from 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.”

Starting when those in the study were an average age of 55, researchers used medical records to determine which of them were diagnosed with dementia up to 15 years later.

Of 15,025 who experienced sugar rationing before birth and during their first year of life, 388 developed dementia.

Meanwhile, of the 15,256 who experienced sugar rationing before birth and during their first two years of life, 456 developed dementia.

And of 23,774 born after sugar rationing, 504 developed dementia.

After adjusting for age, sex, and health factors such as high blood pressure and diabetes, researchers found that people who experienced sugar rationing before birth and in the first years of life had a reduced dementia risk of more than a fifth.

A smaller group of participants also had brain scans.

People with less sugar in early life had higher total grey matter volume and lower levels of white matter “hyperintensities”, a marker of brain tissue damage.

Mr Zheng said: “Limiting added sugars during pregnancy and infancy may be one beneficial step that families and communities can take, but further research is needed to better understand how these early exposures influence dementia risk and to guide public health strategies.”

Dr Sara Rodrigues, senior research manager at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “Research like this helps us better understand how dementia risk develops across our lifetime and could help shape future approaches to protecting brain health.

“However, it’s important to remember that this was an observational study.

“This means it can identify links between diet and dementia risk, but it cannot prove that eating less sugar directly prevents dementia.

“The Lancet Commission – one of the most comprehensive reviews of dementia risk – does not currently list sugar intake as a standalone risk factor.

“More research is needed to better understand the potential relationship between sugar intake and the development of dementia.

“For now, our advice at Alzheimer’s Research UK remains unchanged.

“Eating a healthy, balanced diet is one of the best ways to support your brain health and it’s never too late to make positive changes.”