Sugar in first 1,000 days linked to poor health later

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #1

BBC News Story … why only 1,000 days?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c93qlyp42jyo

(B Creighton) #2

I believe it probably wires the brain early for that dopamine fix, but yeah, I don’t think any long term exposure to sugar can be linked to health.

Nevertheless, mother’s milk is quite sweet, and starts baby down this path. In nature sweet things are safe - are not poisonous.

(KM) #3

I gotta admit, my primary reaction was, “statistically speaking, I’ll bet two women out of four were mortified to be in that picture”. :laughing:

It’s an interesting theory. I seem to remember overall calorie reduction during the latter part of the war and the years directly after being linked to improved longevity. While I like the hypothesis that sugar is the defining factor here, I’m not sure it can be very well isolated. Still, thank you mom for lots of breast milk and very little refined sugar!!

(Chuck) #4

I am 77 years old, never been hospitalized, I don’t have to take any prescription drugs, my worst illness has been a mild flu. I didn’t get covid even while taking care of friends that had it. My secret is eating mostly real farm fresh food. But I did and do eat a little bit of desserts that my wife and family members make from scratch. The key is moderation. The key is also moderate exercise. The key is also getting enough sleep. But most of all the secret is knowing your body, knowing your ancestry, and stayed far away from food factory processed food. Staying away from drug industry chemicals. And staying away from fast food and soft drinks.

(Christian Voigt) #5

That’s mostly galactose though. It has a different metabolic pathway than glucose. It doesn’t really affect insulin, afaik.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #6

Lactose is galactose bonded to galactose, and also has a role to play in infant nutrition, but you are right; breast milk is much healthier for the baby.

With sucrose, table suager, the fructose half of the molecule is a large part of the problem. Not to mention that manufacturers put sucrose in everything. The result is that not only is all the glucose from the sucrose spiking our insulin, but the fructose is damaging our liver. Start a baby on that in her first three years, and she can expect long-term metabolic problems for the rest of her life.

(karen brewerr) #7

There’s research suggesting that high sugar intake during infancy and toddlerhood can influence taste preferences and reward systems in the brain long term. But yeah, I also think it’s a bit more complex, like quantity, frequency, and the context of the overall diet matter too. And while breast milk is naturally sweet, it seems to come with a whole package of nutrients and bioactive compounds that balance things out in ways formula or processed sugar sources don’t. Nature probably designed that sweetness for good reason, like you said, but it’s not quite the same as added sugars in cereals or drinks.