By Donna V. Scaglione
It’s no secret that we’re a nation of overeaters and consumers of unhealthy food. Our dietary habits have sent the number of those who are obese and overweight soaring and are partially responsible for making heart disease the country’s No. 1 killer.
If that news isn’t good enough reason to start eating better, consider this: Losing weight can lower high blood pressure and blood-cholesterol levels, helping to cut heart disease risk, and it can improve management of diabetes, which now afflicts 26 million Americans.
Beyond that, new research shows that shedding pounds enhances brain power, stepping up our ability to remember and focus.
1. Boost memory, concentration
A recent study of 150 people who dropped pounds from weight-loss surgery showed improved memory and concentration 12 weeks after their procedures. Before surgery they tested as slightly impaired, but after they tested within normal range.
How does losing weight improve memory and concentration? “A lot of the factors that come with obesity — things such as high blood pressure, Type-2 diabetes, and sleep apnea — that might damage the brain are somewhat reversible,” John Gunstad of Kent State University, the study’s lead investigator, says in a prepared statement. “As those problems go away, memory function gets better.”
He says he expects to see the same results when he next studies brain function after behavioral weight loss.
