Early-life sugar restriction causally reduces adult cancer incidence and slows biological aging

August 4, 2026| Source: PNAS

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 1951–1956. 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 ( + 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.

Read the original source →

Rainfall extremes drive cocoa yield losses across the tropics.

There is a growing need for human-centered weather and climate forecasts that provide actionable information to farmers and other stakeholders. Cocoa, which sustains the livelihoods of nearly six million smallholder farmers, illustrates this need: Recent production shortfalls have threatened incomes, yet their underlying causes remain unclear, with explanations invoking both climatic and nonclimatic factors. Here we show that heavy rainfall, rather than temperature or mean water availability, is

EnvironmentSeptember 29, 2026

Manure to insect farming for feed mitigates nitrogen and greenhouse gas emissions.

Livestock manure is nutrient-rich and represents a promising feedstock for insect farming, with insect protein offering a high-quality alternative to conventional crop-based livestock feed. This pathway has substantial potential to mitigate nitrogen (N) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from livestock systems. Here, we integrate global livestock models with trade, land-use, and cost-benefit analysis to quantify the environmental and economic implications of manure-to-insect conversion while ens

EnvironmentSeptember 29, 2026

Air pollution after the shutdown of US embassy monitoring.

For more than a decade, US embassies and consulates provided independent, publicly accessible air-quality information in cities worldwide. In 2025, this program was abruptly suspended, generating sharp drops in the availability of trusted pollution information. We evaluate the consequences of this change using real-time satellite-derived aerosol optical depth (AOD) and a matched difference-in-differences design with same-country control cities. Across 46 cities, we find no systematic trends prio

EnvironmentSeptember 22, 2026

Earthquake-triggered cascading hazards under Arctic amplification.

Arctic warming is reshaping permafrost and glacierized terrains, potentially changing their natural hazards in response to seismic shaking. On 10 March 2025, a Mw 6.5 oceanic transform fault earthquake near Jan Mayen Island in the Arctic Ocean triggered a large rock avalanche that buried part of the Kjerulf Glacier, generating infrasound signals and glacier calving. Using seismic, Global Navigation Satellite System data, infrasound records, satellite imagery, and long-term climatological records

EnvironmentSeptember 22, 2026

At least a fivefold gap in effective global marine protection.

The Convention on Biological Diversity's ambitious target to "effectively conserve" 30% of the world's oceans in protected areas by 2030 risks being undermined by a primary focus on total area protected rather than realized conservation outcomes. Area-based assessments can overstate success because few marine protected areas (MPAs) possess strong restrictions and high compliance. Here, we estimate the extent that conservation outcomes are realized across the global MPA network for shallow reefs