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    "story_id": "mp-2026-07-30-015",
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    "headline": "Sugar Rationing Became a Natural Experiment",
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    "dek": "Exposure before birth and through infancy was associated with 21% to 23% lower dementia risk decades later.",
    "summary": "Exposure before birth and through infancy was associated with 21% to 23% lower dementia risk decades later.",
    "body_text": "A Neurology study compared 64,737 people born around the end of UK sugar rationing and found lower dementia risk and an average 2.6-year delay among exposed groups. The historical analysis is observational and does not prove that early-life sugar directly prevents dementia.",
    "why_it_matters": "Exposure before birth and through infancy was associated with 21% to 23% lower dementia risk decades later.",
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      "The historical analysis is observational and does not prove that early-life sugar directly prevents dementia."
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        "qualification": "The historical analysis is observational and does not prove that early-life sugar directly prevents dementia."
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    "tags": [
      "dementia",
      "early-life nutrition",
      "sugar rationing",
      "observational study"
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      "title": "American Academy of Neurology via Newswise: Early-life sugar rationing and later dementia",
      "publisher": "American Academy of Neurology",
      "url": "https://www.newswise.com/articles/limiting-sugar-early-in-life-associated-with-lower-risk-of-dementia-later",
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    "name": "The Machine Press",
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    "title": "Sugar Rationing Became a Natural Experiment",
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