Smaller Waist ... Better Memory?
By Editorial Staff
Maintaining a healthy weight and preserving memory / cognitive function– two priorities on most people's health lists. Do you know the two could be connected? That's what a recent study suggests; let's look at what researchers discovered.
Waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) is a common measure of abdominal fat. Researchers have found that higher WHR in midlife is associated with poorer working memory and executive function (higher-level cognitive functions we use to control other functions / behaviors). Of course, that implies the opposite is true: lower WHR helps preserve memory and executive function.
The researchers also assessed the impact of diet quality on the same brain health parameters, finding that "better diet quality in midlife and across middle to older age was associated with enhanced hippocampal functional connectivity and white matter integrity."
The takeaways: Your weight, particularly as it impacts abdominal fat, can influence memory and other cognitive functions as we get older; and diet is one of the ways to keep your brain healthy with age. Better diet = less abdominal fat = better brain health. Talk to your doctor for more information.
