Sugar restriction in infancy cuts Alzheimer's risk by 46 percent

A recent study in npj Aging suggests that limiting a baby’s sugar intake during the first 1,000 days after conception could lower their lifelong risk of Alzheimer’s disease by up to 46 percent.

Because it is unethical to intentionally restrict a baby’s diet for a scientific experiment, researchers examined a unique historical event: sugar rationing in the United Kingdom during and after World War II.

At the time, children under age two received no sugar rations. When the policy ended in September 1953, sugar consumption among adults nearly doubled, creating a natural test group for scientists to study.

A team of researchers from China analyzed the health records of 60,394 people born between 1951 and 1956, using the UK Biobank, a large medical database. They divided these individuals into three groups based on their exposure to sugar rationing: only in the womb, in the womb and early childhood, or not at all.

The results were striking. Compared with the group without sugar restrictions, those who experienced sugar rationing during their first 1,000 days of life had a 27 percent lower risk of developing dementia.

Furthermore, their risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease dropped by 46 percent. They also had a 20 percent lower risk of anxiety and an 11 percent lower risk of depression. However, the researchers found no link between early sugar limits and Parkinson’s disease.

Scientists analyzed MRI scans from a smaller group of 9,053 participants to explore how sugar impacts the physical brain. Even after accounting for genetics and family background, those with early sugar restriction showed brains approximately 0.39 years younger than predicted.

They also displayed larger hippocampus and thalamus regions, which are essential for memory and cognition.

While these findings strongly suggest a link between early-life nutrition and long-term brain health, the authors noted that they do not definitively prove cause and effect.

The researchers emphasized that these historical results must be confirmed in modern populations before public health recommendations are updated.