It is not just the body parts that suffer from eating mindlessly. Obesity and overweight are linked with loss of memory. Obesity being a common health issue is characterized by excess fat deposition in body parts.
If you want to keep your memory sharp it is important to maintain an ideal body weight as higher BMI is an invitation to various health diseases such as high blood pressure, health risks, increases the blood sugar level and various other problems too. To everyone’s surprise it affects the memory as well.
Decline in memory with age is a normal process as the brain undergoes changes that affects the intelligence of a person.
The part of the brain that is affected
The hippocampus is an important part of the brain responsible for memory. The decrease in size of the brain in mid-life affects the memory and being obese enhances the structural changes of the brain. This affects the impairment of the memory and metabolic functions.
Obesity causes changes in specific proteins and this increases the risk of developing dementia.
The junk foods that we eat are rich in saturated fats and sugars. It affects the brains and so obviously impacts the memory also. According to the studies, wrong foods have a negative impact on the brain and eating mindlessly leads to obesity. So, being overweight does affect the memory.
The link between obesity and memory loss is not a one-way track. It affects the function of the brain and also the eating pattern of an individual.
The person who suffers from partial or complete loss of memory eats multiple meals very frequently as they tend to forget the time they consumed the last meal. The brain forgets the amount of food in the stomach. Thus, the person tends to overeat and reversing the loss of memory can help improve the appetite as well.
The studies have shown that obese and overweight children have a poor memory compared to children who have ideal BMI. When the brain is affected due to some particular diet it affects the cognitive function and also the brain function as there is less white matter in the brain of obese people.
With excess deposition of fats in different parts of the body, the blood circulation to the vital organs such as the brain is impaired. So, going for a weight loss plan can help you improve the blood circulation to the brain.
Let us understand how excess fat can affect the health of a brain and lead to memory loss.
1.Excess weight shrinks the brain and decreases the white matter in the brain. The white matter in the brain helps us to learn new skills. With the small size of the brain there is a decrease in grey matter (responsible for memory).
2.Eating in excess leads to obesity and it is difficult to change the eating habits as it is a pleasure for the brain to eat what you want. Thus, a person tends to eat more and more. This occurs due to the negative effect of foods on the brain.
3.According to the studies obesity can cause loss of memory and intelligence as well. These symptoms are commonly found in women especially with fat deposits around the abdomen.
Obesity might cause loss of memory through impairing the blood circulation to the brain or might affect the brain by causing high blood pressure and other health issues.
Excess fats also cause hormonal changes and the imbalance of hormones affects the signal sent between neurons and brains.
To keep your memory sharp or to reverse the loss of memory it is important to manage the body weight. Working on your diet, little work out and behavioral changes helps a lot. Shedding extra body weight improves the overall health and benefits the memory.
It is important to understand the role of foods and physical activity in the memory of people in all age groups. So, get rid of the excess body fats and improve the way your brain functions.