Belly Fat Makes You Dull

Researchers from the Iowa State University have found, for the first time, that less muscle and more body fat may affect how flexible our thinking gets as we become older, and changes in parts of the immune system could be responsible. These findings could lead to new treatments that help maintain mental flexibility in aging adults with obesity, sedentary lifestyles, or muscle loss that naturally happens with ageing. Researchers looked at the data of more than 4,000 middle-aged to older people discovered people mostly in their 40s and 50s who had higher amounts of fat in their mid-section had worse fluid intelligence as they got older. Greater muscle mass, by contrast, appeared to be a protective factor. Generally, people begin to gain fat and lose lean muscle once they hit middle age, a trend that continues as they get older. To overcome this, implementing exercise routines to maintain lean muscle becomes more important.

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