We all know that sugar is bad for us. Just how bad is highlighted by a fascinating recent study that was made possible only because of terrible world events.
In 1940, Great Britain stood alone in its fight against NAZI Germany. Facing critical shortages of supplies and a desperate need to provide for its soldiers, sailors, and airmen, the British government responded by enacting a strict food rationing policy. This included allowing each citizen to have only about 40 grams of sugar per day (roughly 9 teaspoons). Thankfully, as we all know, the Allies eventually triumphed. But Britain was in such difficult shape after the war that it continued rationing many foods for years to come as it struggled to rebuild its economy. It was not until September of 1953 that the rationing of sugar was lifted and British subjects could return to simply buying as much sugar as they needed and could afford.
This in effect created a natural experiment of sorts, a “before” and “after” of a time when sugar was scarce. Recently a team of researchers leveraged this fact to ask a simple question: does the amount of sugar consumed during the first few years of life lead to any long-term health effects?
They examined the medical records of over 60,000 Britons born during the early 1950s, comparing those who were at least 1,000 days (about 3 years) old when sugar rationing was lifted to those who were born after the end of sugar rationing. It turns out that being born during sugar rationing led to better long-term health outcomes. The researchers found that – even now, more than 70 years later – the “low sugar babies” are healthier, with less obesity, less diabetes, and lower rates of several cancers than the higher sugar cohort. They also have longer telomeres, a marker of slower aging.
The researchers hypothesize that reduced sugar exposure during the critical first few years of life may leave a “footprint” of good metabolic health that persists even into late adulthood. They also found that the babies exposed to reduced sugar have tended to consume less sugar throughout their lives, suggesting that perhaps lack of early sugar consumption led to a reduced “sweet tooth” which in turn reduced sugar consumption even decades later.
If you are reading this, I assume you are older than 1,000 days, so it’s far too late to restrict your early life sugar consumption. But you may (perhaps as a parent or other relative of influence) be able to help a child of today. And even for yourself, it’s likely never too late to benefit from reducing your own sugar intake.
