Obesity makes your brain older

We are aware of the fact that obesity is the main reason for many diseases, such as cancer or diabetes. What you may not know is that, according to a recent study, obesity is making our brain look ten years older than a skinnier person’s brain, at the same age.

The study was made by Cambridge Centre for Ageing and Neuroscience. Its researchers analyzed data from 473 people, with ages between 20 and 87. There were divided into groups according to their weight. The results of the test showed that the overweight people have less white matter than the skinnier group.

If you are young, you do not have to worry as the difference was seen from middle-age on. The reason researchers think this happens is because we are more vulnerable at that age. Moreover, the average American weight has been on the rise in the past years, so more people could be affected by obesity. We should take into consideration all those factors that make us gain more weight, such as junk-food, not doing any outdoor activity.

There are more studies to be done in order to discover why the white matter can disappear so quickly when we gain weight. Another question will be if we are able to change this process with weight loss.

What is really important to know is that both groups showed the same level of knowledge so it is not affecting your IQ. Being overweight is not making you dumber, but is causes damages to your health, so take care of your body and eat as healthy as possible.

Researchers are trying to find out what effects could obesity have on the brain and memory.  There are two things every person can do if he/she wants to stay fit: diet and sports activities. Of course, diet means eating healthy food, which improves your health. Many people are trying to get skinnier by not eating at all, which is a bad idea.

There will be sure more studies regarding this matter, especially in the United States, where the problem does seem to be out of control. With more than half of the population being overweight, a change should be made. We hope that, in the future, people will understand more of what the effects of the obesity are and that they will change the way they live.

Image source: Wikipedia