How sugar as a baby affects you when your 60

Hi readers 🥔 I have spent this week eating potatoes for science. Literally. I’m tracking my glucose with three rounds of (delicious) experiments. Turns out a potato isn’t just a potato…

Here are this weeks discoveries worth your attention:
💗 A concerning rise in aggressive breast cancer in younger women 
🍟 Ultra-processed foods are bad for your health (and the food system)
🍬 What you ate as a toddler influences your cardiometablic health 60 years later 

💗More invasive breast cancers appearing in younger women

New data shows more breast cancers are appearing in women below standard screening ages (40>), with many cases found at invasive stages [press release].

Julija’s Take (DPhil/PhD ABD, Clinical Scientist, Superpower):

Not only is this a scary headline - there is mounting evidence that cancer among younger adults is rising across severaltypes. Long-term hormonal contraception, chronic inflammation, metabolic dysfunction, alcohol, endocrine disruptors, later childbearing, and high breast density all stack risk earlier in life. Screening guidelines, however, were built for a world where these pressures were weaker and started later. Younger women now sit in a blind spot: rising exposures paired with screening thresholds that no longer reflect the real-world risk landscape. It’s increasingly reasonable to rethink screening and prevention strategies independent of age.

What you can do: Know your risk with a validated tool [IBIS Risk Calculator]. Reduce unnecessary hormone exposure and minimise avoidable contact with endocrine-disrupting chemicals where practical. Keep metabolic health strong, limit alcohol, and if you have family history or dense breasts, push for earlier imaging.

🍟 UFPs are the next Big Tobacco

Decades of data highlights that rising ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption is tied to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression and higher mortality. They’re outpacing public health systems and replacing whole meals with engineered calories — and corporate strategies are the main force behind their global spread [the papers].

Brittany’s Take (RDN, BS Genetics, Longevity Advisor, Superpower):

We’ve seen this pattern before. When profits are huge, health loses. UPFs are simply the newest product engineered against our biology. You can’t rewrite national food policy from your kitchen, but you can control the environment that shapes most of what you eat. Stock your home with real ingredients and keep the hyper-processed stuff as the exception. This flips your default without relying on discipline and protects you while the bigger system stays slow to change.

What you can do: Rebuild your kitchen’s defaults. Keep whole foods in arm’s reach, prep ingredients that are easy to combine into meals. Pro tip: pre-cook your proteins on Sundays so they are ready to rock for the week, and go out for a scoop of ice cream instead of having a carton in your freezer. This drops your UPF load more than any “avoid this list” rule ever will.

 🍬 Baby sugar intake echoes into late-life heart health

A study tracking people from birth found that higher sugar consumption during the first 1,000 days of life predicted worse cardiometabolic markers more than 60 years later, including higher blood pressure, higher LDL, and more abdominal fat [the research]. This was independent of adult lifestyle and other risk factors.

Tash’s Take (Cert Performance Nutrition, Newsletter, Superpower):

I hosted my daughter’s first birthday on the weekend and yes, I went all in on the no sugar rule. The grandparents rolled their eyes, but this study shows why I’m comfortable drawing that line. Early sugar leaves a long term imprint on biology, the same way seatbelts and sunscreen shape safety habits. These first years are the only time we have real control over what goes in, so I’m trying to stack the deck in her favor while I still can. It won’t be perfect (it never is) but the runway we build now really does matter.

What you can do: 
If you are pregnant or breastfeeding: Cap added sugar at 25g/day — including “healthy” sources like honey, maple syrup, and coconut sugar.
If you have a child age 0–2: Keep sugar low and watch for hidden added sources. Even when labels say “natural,” “no sugar added,” or “sugar-free,” read the ingredients.

Superpowered by You: Cool your potatoes.

Potatoes are the best food on the planet (fight me).

Their universal likeability may need a study, but their ability to keep you full does not. They sit at the very top of the satiety index [the list].

So why the bad reputation? Because they spike blood sugar when eaten fresh and hot.

But here’s the twist. When a cooked potato cools, its starches transform into resistant starch [the SPUD Project], which behaves more like fiber. It slips past digestion, feeds gut bacteria, and smooths out glucose spikes.

Before you freak out, no, you don’t need to eat cold potatoes like a psychopath. Reheating them keeps a good chunk of that resistant starch intact [the science].

The move: Cook your potatoes, cool them, then reheat. You get the comfort food, the fullness, and a gentler glucose curve.

s/o to everyone who has donated blood as part of the American Red Cross X Superpower Blood Friday campaign!

We still have a few Superpower memberships to give away as a thank you. If you want to jump in, give blood or make a donation this week. Claim yours below 👇

The lab note:

Suddenly waking up at 3am? It might not be the Sunday Scaries, but your glucose levels misfiring.

Glucose is your main fuel, but when levels swing high or low your brain, appetite signals, and energy timing all go off track. Over time those swings strain insulin, slow metabolism, and raise your risk of diabetes.

Rather than a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) which shows your glucose rising and falling in real time, a lab test captures your baseline under controlled conditions. That baseline tells you how well your body handles sugar when you are not riding the ups and downs of a meal.

This can reveal early metabolic drift, show whether insulin is overworking to keep you in range, and gives you a stable reference point you can track over time

Yours until I can justify hot chips as “research” again.