
In a recent study published within the Nutrition Journal, researchers examined a prospective population-based United Kingdom (U.K.) Biobank cohort to look at associations between free and intrinsic sugar sources and the danger of dementia.
Study: Association of sugar intake from different sources with incident dementia in the potential cohort of UK Biobank participants. Image Credit: Valerii__Dex / Shutterstock
Background
Dementia is characterised as a decline in cognitive function beyond the extent related to normal aging. There are roughly 55 million cases of dementia the world over, and the incidence increases by 10 million cases every year. Moreover, while age is a longtime risk factor for dementia, obesity and obese during mid-life are believed to extend the danger of dementia. Nonetheless, despite the extensive research conducted on dementia and its risk aspects, there aren’t any effective treatments thus far, and lifestyle and dietary interventions remain the first approaches to slow the progression of the disease.
Dietary interventions to slow the progression of dementia often also address problems of obesity and obese. A low-carbohydrate weight loss program is believed to enhance glucose control and reduce low-grade inflammation while providing promising ends in delaying dementia. Nonetheless, the absence of diverse food decisions is usually a limitation to achieving a low-carbohydrate weight loss program, as adherence to the weight loss program might require excluding foods akin to whole grains, legumes, and a few vegetables and fruit which can be thought to enhance cognition. Due to this fact, recent studies have focused on limiting specific carbohydrates akin to sugars.
Concerning the study
In the current study, the researchers examined the association between an increased risk of dementia and the consumption of free and intrinsic sugar sources. Free sugars are those which can be added to foods during manufacturing, cooking, or consumption, while intrinsic sugars naturally occur in foods, akin to those in vegetables, fruits, honey, and dairy products.
The World Health Organization recommends that the consumption of free sugars be below 10% of the entire energy intake and lower than 5% per day. To know whether consumption of free sugars from various sources, akin to solid foods, beverages, and subtypes of solid foods and beverages, was related to an increased risk of dementia, the researchers conducted a prospective cohort study using a population of U.K. Biobank participants.
The researchers hypothesized that the correlation between free sugar consumption and incident dementia can be depending on the source of free sugars, with free sugars from beverages and beverage subtypes showing a positive association with incident dementia but an identical association being absent between free sugars from solid foods. In addition they examined whether consumption of intrinsic sugars was related to an increased dementia risk.
The study included U.K. Biobank participants who had filled out not less than one online dietary questionnaire assessing the 24-hour dietary intake. Those participants for whom information on lifestyle risk aspects, socioeconomic aspects akin to household income, Townsend deprivation index, ethnic background, and academic qualifications, and health parameters akin to systolic blood pressure and body mass index were missing, in addition to those that had been diagnosed with dementia before the administration of the questionnaire, or had a history of diabetes, were excluded from the study.
Sugar intake was assessed based on the precise food types reported within the web-based questionnaire, akin to fruit juices, milk-based drinks, coffee, tea, treats, sauces, toppings, and breakfast cereals. The examined primary final result was the incidence of all-cause dementia.
Results
The outcomes reported a linear association between the consumption of free sugars in beverages akin to fruit drinks, sodas, and milk-based drinks and the danger of dementia. Free and intrinsic sugar intake showed significant associations with the danger of dementia, with a J-shaped association and the bottom hazard ratios being observed at 8% and 9% of intrinsic and free-sugar consumption, respectively.
While the consumption of free sugars in beverages showed a big and linear association with the danger of incident dementia, no significant association was observed between dementia risk and the consumption of free sugars through solid foods.
Moreover, throughout the various subtypes of beverages that were examined, fruit drinks, sodas, and milk-based drinks showed a positive and significant association with the danger of dementia, while juices showed similar associations, but to a lesser extent. Tea and occasional didn’t show any significant association with dementia risk.
Conclusions
Overall, the findings reported that consuming free sugars, primarily through beverages akin to fruit, milk-based drinks, and sodas, increased the danger of incident dementia. Fruit juices showed an identical association, but to a lesser extent, while consuming free sugars through coffee and tea was not related to an increased risk of dementia. Free sugars consumed through solid foods weren’t linked to an increased risk of dementia.
Journal reference:
- Schaefer, S. M., Kaiser, A., Eichner, G., & Fasshauer, M. (2023). Association of sugar intake from different sources with incident dementia in the potential cohort of U.K. Biobank participants. Nutrition Journal, 22(1), 42. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12937023008718, https://nutritionj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12937-023-00871-8