How does sugar affect our heart?

NEW research suggests that limiting sugar during pregnancy and the first two years of life can have lasting benefits for our heart health.

- CAMILLA FOSTER

NEW research suggests that limiting sugar during pregnancy and the first two years of life can have lasting benefits for our heart health.

The study, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), looked at 63,433 people from the UK born between October 1951 and March 1956 with no history of heart disease, and from this compared 40,063 people exposed to sugar rationing between 1940 and 1953 with 23,370 people who were not.

They found those who had sugar restricted during the time of pregnancy and in the first two years of life, compared with people never exposed to rationing, had a 20% lower risk of heart disease, 25% lower risk of heart attack, 26% lower risk of heart failure, stroke (31%), and cardiovascular death (27%).

What short-term effects can eating sugar have on our heart?