Lasting brain changes can be caused by eating the kind of unhealthy food that has become a “routine part” of early childhood at birthday parties, school celebrations and sporting events, according to a new study.
The researchfrom University College Cork (UCC) found that healthy eating shapes lifelong brain health.
It highlights that frequent consumption of unhealthy food in childhood can shape preferences and establish unhealthy eating patterns that persist into adulthood.
Children today are growing up in food environments saturated with high-fat and high-sugar options that are readily accessible and heavily promoted.
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Long-lasting changes in how the brain regulates eating can be caused when an unhealthy diet has been consumed in early life and can continue even when the unhealthy diet is stopped and body weight is normalised.
However, gut bacteria can help restore healthy eating. The research, published in Nature Communications, found eating foods such as onions, garlic, leeks, asparagus and bananas, which contain a specific strain of beneficial gut bacteria, prebiotic fibres or galacto-oligosaccharides, could help prevent such effects when administered throughout life. These can also be found in fortified foods and prebiotic supplements.
Exposure to a high-fat, high-sugar diet during early life in a preclinical mouse model led to persistent alterations in feeding behaviour in adulthood.
These behavioural changes were linked to lasting disruptions in the adult hypothalamus, a key brain region involved in appetite control and energy balance.
The research led by UCC in partnership with the University of Seville, the University of Gothenburg and Teagasc Food Research Centre.
“Our findings show that what we eat early in life really matters,” said Dr Cristina Cuesta-Martí, first author of the study.
“Early dietary exposure may leave hidden, long-term effects on feeding behaviour that are not immediately visible through weight alone.”
Dr Harriet Schellekens, lead investigator of the study, said “crucially, our findings show that targeting the gut microbiota can mitigate the long-term effects of an unhealthy early-life diet on later feeding behaviour.”
UCC’s Prof John Cryan said such studies exemplify how fundamental research can lead to potential innovative solutions for major societal challenges.
