Early sugar restriction linked to lower anxiety and altered brain regions in adulthood

New research suggests that limited sugar exposure during early life, particularly in the first 1,000 days, may reduce adult anxiety and influence brain changes, highlighting the importance of prenatal and early nutrition.

A new study from the University of Surrey suggests that exposure to sugar in the womb and in the first two years of life may have effects that last well into adulthood, including a higher likelihood of anxiety and a stronger preference for sweet foods. The work adds to a growing body of research linking early nutrition with later brain and mental health outcomes.

The researchers analysed data from more than 45,000 people in UK Biobank who were born between 1951 and 1956, when Britain still rationed sugar after the Second World War. By comparing people who experienced rationing only during pregnancy, those who were exposed for up to 24 months after birth, and those who were not subject to rationing at all, the team found that longer exposure to restricted sugar supply early in life was associated with a lower risk of anxiety in adulthood. The pattern was especially clear among women.

The study also found a link between lower early-life sugar exposure and reduced preference for sweet tastes later on. That raises the possibility that dietary conditions in the earliest stages of life may help shape eating habits decades later. According to the University of Surrey, the research also identified differences in 11 of 80 brain regions examined, with some of the most notable changes seen in the cerebellum, a part of the brain involved in movement and a range of cognitive functions.

The findings on depression were more mixed. The researchers reported an association between early sugar exposure and depression, but that link became less statistically robust once other factors were taken into account, suggesting that adult diet or other lifestyle influences may also be playing a role. The broader UK Biobank publication on the cohort study said the protective pattern was strongest when sugar restriction covered the full first 1,000 days after conception, a period increasingly recognised by scientists as critical for development.

Hannah Navratilova, who led the study, said the team was interested in the question because earlier research had pointed to a connection between sweet food preferences and some mental health problems. Novar Gjefman, the lead researcher, said the UK Biobank data offered a rare chance to examine the legacy of post-war sugar rationing. The researchers said more work is needed to understand how early dietary exposure may influence mental health and brain development across the lifespan.