LOS ANGELES (KABC) — You may be what you eat, but new research suggests that your diet and lifestyle may affect the way you think.
A new study confirms the link between body fat and brain volume. And who it affects the most may surprise you.
Susan South, 66, makes a choice to eat better and get fit. It’s not just his body, it’s his brain.
“My mom had Alzheimer’s and she also had a weight problem,” South said.
Easy tasks and remembering things became a challenge.
“I couldn’t remember the beginning of sentences. I couldn’t remember what I did in the morning,” she said.
An international study involving researchers at Providence St. John’s Health Center may explain what happened to South.
Dr. Syros Raji of Washington University in St. Louis said: There is a relationship between body fat and reduced brain volume.
“It turns out that when you have a lot of fat cells, fat tissue that’s overactive and inflamed, it sends these cytokine signals to the brain that tell the brain to actually shrink,” says Dr. David Merrill of Providence. . Jan Health Center
When brain volume decreases, the risk of dementia in later life increases. Researchers used MRI scans to measure body fat and brain volume in 10,000 participants. Surprisingly, this effect was greater in 20- to 39-year-olds compared to older participants.
“This is important because it means that the changes we see in the brain related to body fat are not just a product of natural aging,” Raji said.
The study also found that women had a greater correlation between increased abdominal fat and lower brain volume compared to men. Differences in hormone levels may be the reason, researchers say.
“What we want to investigate is whether hormonal changes with age could affect this outcome,” Raji said.
Can you reverse brain shrinkage? South, in collaboration with Dr. Merrill, has been able to slow his cognitive decline through lifestyle changes. He said he was experiencing a noticeable change.
I like to think of it as a diet to feed the brain. And now I feel even sharper than ever.” South said.
Merrill recommends 30 minutes of moderate activity daily, eating a nutritious diet of 2,000 calories or less per day.
And, he said, ask yourself this: “Are the foods you choose nourishing both your body and your brain?”
South said the choice is yours.
“You have the opportunity to choose every day. I am living proof of how I reversed my cognition,” he said.
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