There are plenty of reasons to lose weight, whether you want to look better, have more energy or guard your wellbeing against weight-related health conditions. However, a new study has found another motivation that might stir you into shifting a few pounds: mental wellness. According to Swedish researchers, whose findings were presented at The Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in San Francisco, for older women, weight loss can improve your memory.
Previous studies have shown that overweight people have worse episodic memory, which, in other words, is your ability to remember events. However, researchers at Umea University in Sweden have found that losing weight has an impact on brain activity, specifically the region that controls memory, and so rather than losing these memories altogether, you can reclaim them. In a statement, lead author Andreas Pettersson, MD, a PhD student at Umea University, commented, ‘Our findings suggest that obesity-associated impairments in memory function are reversible, adding incentive for weight loss.’
This finding is based on a study of 20 overweight, post-menopausal women with an average age of 61. The researchers randomly assigned the study participants to one of two healthy diets for six months. While nine women went on the Paleolithic diet or the Caveman diet, which is composed of 30% protein; 30% carbohydrates, or “carbs”; and 40% unsaturated fats, the other 11 women were told to follow the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations. This consists of a diet containing 15% protein, 55% carbs and 30% fats.
Before and after the diet, the researchers measured the study participants’ body mass index (BMI), as well as testing the women’s episodic memory. This was done by asking the participants to memorise unknown pairs of faces and names, and then, later on, recall what letter each person’s name began with. The results of the study revealed that memory performance improved after weight loss, which was confirmed by brain scans. The women had grown more adept at storing and recalling memories, which Dr Pettersson explained: ‘The altered brain activity after weight loss suggests that the brain becomes more active while storing new memories and therefore needs fewer brain resources to recollect stored information.’