A recent study published in Neurology found that people who were exposed to less sugar before birth and during their first one to two years of life had up to a 23% lower risk of developing dementia compared with those born after sugar became widely available again.

Study Findings

Researchers examined the health records of more than 64,000 people in the United Kingdom who were born before and after World War II sugar rationing ended in 1953. People who experienced lower sugar intake before birth and through their first year of life had a 21% lower risk of dementia, while those whose sugar intake remained limited through age two had a 23% lower risk.

The study also found that people with lower sugar exposure early in life developed dementia an average of 2.6 years later than those who consumed more sugar. According to study author Jiazhen Zheng, limiting sugar during the earliest stages of life may have lasting benefits for brain health.

While the findings are intriguing, Dariush Mozaffarian, director of the Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts University, cautioned against drawing firm conclusions, citing many other factors that likely differed between people born during and after wartime, including overall nutrition and calorie intake.

Despite the limitations, Mozaffarian emphasized the importance of pregnant women consuming the healthiest foods possible for both their own health and that of their baby, focusing on minimally processed foods such as fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds, whole grains, fermented dairy products, and fish, while limiting ultra-processed foods high in sugar, starch, and salt.

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.