Study links lower early-life sugar intake to reduced cancer risk

Less sugar early in life could lead to better health decades later.

A new study published in the journal PNAS found that adults who consumed less sugar during their first 1,000 days of life had lower risks of several cancers, including liver, breast and prostate cancer.

Researchers also found those adults appeared to age more slowly at a biological level and were more likely to maintain healthier diets later in life.

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Our findings suggest that limiting sugar during the earliest stages of life may have lasting benefits for brain health. These results highlight the potential importance of early-life nutrition in reducing the risk of dementia decades later," said Jiazhen Zheng, the study's author.

The study examined people born in Britain during post-World War II sugar rationing, though researchers said the findings do not prove reducing sugar directly caused those health benefits.

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The study only shows an association between sugar and dementia risk.