An amazing new health breakthrough shows a strange-but-true cause of memory loss. It is also the cause of many other health issues, but that’s another story. If you overeat — i.e. consume between 2,100 and 6,000 calories a day — your risk of fading memory may double.
This goes for adults over the age of 70 and, along with memory disruptions, the effects could include mild cognitive impairment (MCI). MCI is the period between normal memory loss that comes with aging and early Alzheimer’s disease. The results of this study are set to be presented this April at the American Academy of Neurology’s 64th Annual Meeting.
Researchers witnessed that the more calories there were consumed each day, the higher one’s risk for MCI. This was culled from a study that involved 1,233 adults between 70 and 89 who did not have dementia. But 163 did have MCI. All reported the amount of calories they ate or drank in a food questionnaire and were divided into three equal groups based on their daily caloric consumption.
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One-third of the adults consumed between 600 and 1,526 calories per day, one-third between 1,526 and 2,143, and one-third consumed between 2,143 and 6,000 calories per day. It was those in the final one-third for whom the risk of experiencing MCI and memory loss more than doubled — compared to those in the lowest one-third. This held true even after adjusting for history of stroke, diabetes and other factors that can affect risk of memory loss.
The health advice to glean from this new study is that cutting down on your daily calories can do more than just look after your waistline. It just might make your mental health stronger, and prevent the memory loss that happens naturally as we age.
(Want to boost your memory? Check out the article Announcing an Amazing New Memory Booster.)
The most effective way to cut calories is to eat healthy and learn the caloric toll of foods and beverages. What might seem a decent-enough meal might in fact have a slew of hidden calories. There are many web sites and applications that can help you keep track of calories. Start by reading all labels on foods that offer them, and know that foods without labels (fruits, vegetables) are the ones you should eat more of. You can afford to eat more calories if you get a solid dose of exercise each day to burn them off.