Eating too much is bad for the memory

Too much food adversely affects the memory

13.02.2012

Too much high-calorie food promotes memory problems. This found out US researchers in a study. Seniors who consume more than 2100 calories per day are twice as likely as people who consume less than 1500 calories a day.

Forgetfulness through so much food
For the study, Yonas Geda of the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona and his colleagues examined over 1,200 people aged 70 to 89 years. The subjects who had to report how many calories they consumed daily were diagnosed with no form of dementia. They were then divided into three groups. In the first group of volunteers, the few were less than 1500 calories per day. The second group was assigned to the elderly, who received up to 2100 calories a day with their food. The group were the killer with up to 6000 calories a day. The study of seniors revealed a mild cognitive disorder in 163 subjects, a precursor to dementia such as Alzheimer's disease. The risk of the greater eater was twice as high to get it, as with the little eaters. Study author Geda reports: „The more calories consumed a day, the higher the risk of mild cognitive impairment. Calorie reduction and healthy eating could be an easy way to prevent memory loss in old age.“

Unhealthy diet leads to brain damage
In two independent US studies, early this year, it was demonstrated that unhealthy diets can cause damage to the brain. The scientists revealed that unhealthy diets combined with obesity cause certain brain regions to shrink and so on further disturb eating habits. Specifically, it was a significant reduction of certain reward and appetite centers in the cerebrum and significant structural damage.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has been warning for a few years that too many people in the member states are overweight. Obesity is becoming more and more a widespread disease, especially in children are severely affected. (Ag)

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Image: Thommy Weiss