Fitting into your favorite dress or jeans, having more energy, increasing your heart health and liking what you see in the mirror, are all good reasons to lose weight. Well, now you can add another: boosting your brain power. Although medical experts have known for a while that overweight and obese people are at a greater risk for memory loss, a new study shows that dropping a substantial number of pounds actually improves the health of the brain.
Under the guidance of John Gunstad, an associate professor of psychology at Kent State University, along with a team of scientists from several research centers, tests taken by 150 people who weighed an average of 300 pounds were analyzed. Not surprisingly, many of the subjects had several other health problems including high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and sleep apnea.
Of that group, 109 of them had bariatric surgery — mostly gastric bypass surgery. This type of surgery creates a smaller stomach and bypasses part of the small intestine. Those who have the surgery can only consume a significantly reduced amount of calories at each meal. The other 41 obese patients did not have surgery.
Before the surgery, all of the participants had undergone a battery of cognitive tests designed to test the three brain functions, including concentration, organization skills and memory. In repeating the same style of tests after 12 weeks, all of the surgery patients--who, though heavy, were still down from their presurgical weight--saw statistically significant improvement on the tests. Those who had not lost weight not only showed no improvement but - somewhat alarmingly - showed a mild decline in memory function.
Researchers concluded that in the same way diet and exercise improves brain function -- as the body becomes healthier in general -- the brain also gets healthier. It makes sense. After all, our brains are part of our bodies.
The scientists said that more research is needed to see if mildly overweight people experience similar improvements with weight loss through exercise or diet. The study was published online in the journal Surgery for Obesity and Related Disease.
Robin Westen is ThirdAge’s medical reporter. Check for her daily updates.
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