High sugar diet during pregnancy may impair metabolic health after pregnancy

 High sugar diet during pregnancy may lead to increased progesterone levels and changes in the dopamine system and may have serious, long-term health risks for the mental health and signs of prediabetes and fatty liver disease.

The World Health Organisation advises limiting added sugars in our diet to 5-10% of our daily calories. However, The Western diet typically contains 15-25%. It is well established that high sugar consumption increases the risk of diabetes, heart and liver disease. Chronic sugar consumption has also been reported to affect learning, memory and goal-directed behaviours in rats. The mechanisms underlying these brain effects are poorly understood and the majority of studies have been performed on male rats. Since important hormone and metabolic changes occur during pregnancy and lactation, the current study aimed to investigate how high sugar intake may affect the health rats after giving birth.

In this study, Dr Daniel Tobiansky and colleagues, working in the lab of Prof Kiran Soma at The University of British Columbia in Canada, investigated the effects of a high sugar diet on hormone levels and markers of metabolic function in female rats. The rats were maintained on a high sugar diet (equivalent to 25% of their total calorie intake) covering a period 10 weeks prior to mating, as well as throughout pregnancy and lactation. Markers of metabolic health indicated that their glucose regulation was impaired and that they had fatty livers, although their body weight was not different from rats on normal diet. Levels of progesterone were increased whilst markers of dopamine function indicated that its activity in the brain was altered.