Fat Forgetful

If you’re overweight, you’re also likely to have a bad memory. This is one of the results of insulin sensitivity, which is what causes people to gain too much weight. This means that a healthy lifestyle when you’re young could lead to a higher quality of life in old age, when memory tends to become weaker.

But having a better memory than the next guy doesn’t necessarily mean you have a higher I.Q. One person correctly remembers four of eight items just seen but is fuzzy on details. Another person recalls only two of the items but with amazingly precise clarity. So what ability translates to higher IQ? According to a recent study, the answer is very clear: The MORE items you have stored in your short-term memory, the higher your I.Q. Number, not precision is not what counts.

To better understand why midlife obesity is linked to higher risk of cognitive decline and dementia in old age, researchers had middle-aged adults between 40 and 60 years of age complete a challenging cognitive task while undergoing fMRI scans of their brains. While obese, overweight and normal-weight participants performed equally well on the task, fat people displayed lower functional brain response in one brain region, the inferior parietal lobe, which is where memories are stored.. But you can improve your memory (AND lose weight): Researcher Mitzi Gonzales says, "The good thing about insulin sensitivity is that it’s very modifiable through diet and exercise."

If YOU’RE overweight, don’t forget to read Anne Strieber’s famous diet book, "What I Learned From the Fat Years." Using scientific principles, she discovered that exercise is vital to losing weight and keeping it off. And if you don’t want to sweat too much, you should know that walking is considered by scientists to be the BEST exercise. Learn all about it–download this book today!