According to a recent study, a low-sugar diet during pregnancy and the first two years of life can significantly lower the risk of chronic diseases in adulthood. This finding offers strong new evidence of the long-term health consequences of early-life sugar consumption. Based on the study published in ‘Science’, children who were subjected to sugar restriction for the first 1,000 days after conception had a 20% reduced risk of hypertension and a 35% lower risk of Type 2 diabetes as adults.

      The researchers used contemporary data from the U.K. Biobank, a database of medical histories and genetic, lifestyle and other disease risk factors, to study the effect of those early-life sugar restrictions on health outcomes of adults conceived in the U.K. just before and after the end of wartime sugar rationing. Although the risk of diabetes and hypertension was significantly reduced for individuals who experienced the sugar restriction period during the first 1,000 days of life, the beginning of disease was postponed by two and four years, respectively, for those who were later diagnosed with those conditions. Notably, just being exposed to sugar limits during pregnancy reduced risks; but, after solid foods were probably given, postnatal disease protection improved.

      The researchers opined that the scale of this benefit is significant since it can save expenses, increase life expectancy, and possibly most importantly improve the quality of life.

Read More