{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,4]],"date-time":"2026-08-04T18:45:22Z","timestamp":1785869122683,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"National Academy of Sciences","issue":"32","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,4]],"date-time":"2026-08-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785801600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"MOST | National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["72573164"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["72573164"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Pingduoduo-China Agricultural University Research Fund","award":["PC2024B02011"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PC2024B02011"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.pnas.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,11]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Excess sugar consumption is implicated in multiple cancers through insulin resistance, chronic inflammation, and metabolic reprogramming, yet whether early-life sugar exposure causally shapes long-term cancer risk remains an open question. We exploit the abrupt end of United Kingdom sugar rationing in September 1953 as a natural experiment, analyzing 64,761 UK Biobank participants born 1951\u20131956. Cohorts whose first 1,000 d of life fell under rationing exhibit dose-dependent reductions in adult cancer incidence: liver\/intrahepatic bile duct (IHBD) (hazard ratio 0.31), rectum (HR 0.60), lung (HR 0.59), prostate (HR 0.48), and breast (HR 0.64). We uncover two pathways through which this early-life exposure propagates across the life course. First, a behavioral pathway: Rationed cohorts consume less sugar, eat smaller quantities, and maintain healthier, more diverse diets five decades later, consistent with persistent taste preferences shaped during a critical developmental window. Second, a biological pathway: Rationed cohorts exhibit longer leukocyte telomere length (\n                    <jats:inline-formula>\n                      <mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1998\/Math\/MathML\" display=\"inline\" overflow=\"scroll\">\n                        <mml:mo>+<\/mml:mo>\n                      <\/mml:math>\n                    <\/jats:inline-formula>\n                    0.05 SD, approximately 2.2 fewer years of biological aging) and lower Granzyme B, indicating reduced chronic immune activation. These findings provide causal evidence linking early-life sugar intake to cancer and identify a behavioral pathway, consistent with persistent taste preferences, through which early nutritional environments may shape lifelong disease risk. The results carry direct implications for early-life nutrition and added-sugar policy.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.2610287123","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,4]],"date-time":"2026-08-04T17:59:11Z","timestamp":1785866351000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.cm10313","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Early-life sugar restriction causally reduces adult cancer incidence and slows biological aging"],"prefix":"10.1073","volume":"123","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3582-9022","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chen","family":"Zhu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04v3ywz14","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"College of Economics and Management, China Agricultural University","place":["Beijing, China"]},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04v3ywz14","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Beijing Food Safety Policy and Strategy Research Base, China Agricultural University","place":["Beijing, China"]},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04v3ywz14","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Academy of Global Food Economics and Policy (AGFEP), China Agricultural University","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Weilong","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/013meh722","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge","place":["Cambridge, United Kingdom"]},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/013meh722","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Selwyn College, University of Cambridge","place":["Cambridge, United Kingdom"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"341","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_4_1_2","unstructured":"World Health Organization Guideline: Sugars intake for adults and children. (World Health Organization 2015). https:\/\/www.who.int\/publications\/i\/item\/9789241549028."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_2_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neubiorev.2007.04.019"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_3_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/482027a"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_4_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cmet.2015.12.006"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_5_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nrc2536"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_6_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nature01322"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_7_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"N. Makarem Consumption of sugars sugary foods and sugary beverages in relation to adiposity-related cancer risk in the framingham offspring cohort (1991\u20132013). Cancer Prev. Res. 11 347\u2013358 (2018).","DOI":"10.1158\/1940-6207.CAPR-17-0218"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_8_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.k322"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_9_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"E. Ubago-Guisado Evidence update on the relationship between diet and the most common cancers from the European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition (epic) study: a systematic review. Nutrients 13 3582 (2021).","DOI":"10.3390\/nu13103582"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_10_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2337\/dc13-2085"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_11_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"R. Carreras-Torres The role of obesity type 2 diabetes and metabolic factors in pancreatic cancer: a mendelian randomization study. J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 109 djx012 (2017).","DOI":"10.1093\/jnci\/djx012"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_12_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"K. T. Nead et al. Evidence of a causal association between insulinemia and endometrial cancer: A Mendelian randomization analysis. J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 107 djv178 (2015).","DOI":"10.1093\/jnci\/djv178"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_13_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"C. Liu Causal relationship of sugar-sweetened and sweet beverages with colorectal cancer: a mendelian randomization study. Eur. J. Nutr. 62 379\u2013383 (2023).","DOI":"10.1007\/s00394-022-02993-x"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_14_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/ajcn\/86.4.899"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_15_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"C. Arroyo-Quiroz R. Brunauer S. Alavez Sugar-sweetened beverages and cancer risk: A narrative review. Nutr. Cancer 74 3077\u20133095 (2022).","DOI":"10.1080\/01635581.2022.2069827"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_16_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"F. Llaha Consumption of sweet beverages and cancer risk: A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. 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