Limiting sugar before age two linked to better brain health

Limiting sugar before age two linked to better brain healthImage source, Getty ImagesByJames GallagherHealth and science correspondentPublished6 minutes agoScientists have suggested eating very little sugar up to the age of two may help protect the brain decades later.The research analysed the impact of the end of sugar rationing in the UK which led to a rapid increase in the amount of sugar in people's diets. The results suggest those who were toddlers during sugar rationing had a 23% lower risk of dementia. The study cannot provide definitive proof, but experts say a healthy diet is good for the brain anyway. Sugar in first 1,000 days linked to poor health laterPublished31 October 2024This is not the first study to suggest the first 1,000 days of life are critically important for our future health.A suite of studies have been looking at the "natural experiment" of the UK recovering from World War Two and the end of food rationing.When sugar rationing concluded in September 1953, average sugar consumption was estimated to go from around 41g a day (10 sugar cubes) to 80g (20 sugar cubes) almost immediately.Previous research linked this to an increase in type 2 diabetes and blood pressure years later.Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Women with their ration books at London's Petticoat Lane Market during World War Two.The latest study looked at nearly 65,000 people taking part in the UK BioBank project. The analysis - by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in Guangzhou, China - looked at children growing up either side of sugar rationing. They argued sugar rationing up to the age of two was linked to a 23% lower level of dementia and the disease being diagnosed two-and-a-half years later. "Our findings suggest that limiting sugar during the earliest stages of life may have lasting benefits for brain health," said researcher Jiazhen Zheng.The data was published in the journal Neurology.But Zheng said "further res...