Gain Weight, Lose Gray Matter


ruthiechan
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I got the following in an email from the Amen Clinics (I signed up for their newsletter). I thought ya'll'd be interested in it.

Gain Weight, Lose Gray Matter

As if we needed more proof that gaining weight is bad for our health. Now there’s evidence showing that an increase in weight can decrease the size of your brain.

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, used brain imaging to examine the effects of increases in body mass index (BMI) on 48 otherwise healthy postmenopausal women. They found that women whose BMI went up following menopause were more likely to have a reduction in gray matter volume.

When it comes to the brain, size matters. A smaller brain means reduced brain function, which can affect every aspect of your life your relationships, your career, and your mood.

For women going through menopause, it’s especially important to eat a brain-healthy diet to prevent those extra pounds.

Here are five tips to help you avoid weight gain and protect your brain.

Increase your water intake. Drink at least 84 ounces of water a day. Avoid caffeinated or sugar-laden beverages.

Restrict your calories. Eating slightly fewer calories than you need is helpful for your brain.

Eat more wild salmon. It’s full of omega-3 fatty acids that make up a large portion of the gray matter of the brain. Be aware that farm-raised salmon doesn’t have the same amount of the beneficial omega-3 fatty acids.

Eat lots of antioxidant fruits and vegetables. Try blueberries, strawberries, spinach, and broccoli. I like to say eat from the rainbow (many colors) of fruits and vegetables to ensure you are getting a wide variety of antioxidants.

Eat a balance of lean protein, good fats, and carbohydrates.

To your brain health

Daniel

Daniel G. Amen, MD

CEO, Amen Clinics, Inc.

Distinguished Fellow, American Psychiatric Association

Change Your Brain, Change Your Life. - Amen Clinics

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Being one who tries to see things besides the obvious, I would suggest that weight gain has less to do with calories and more to do with metabolic fitness and balance. Too many calories needing to be eaten suggests to me a need to accomodate for something missing. The subconscious can pretty much just send hunger signals, and the conscious needs to figure out what is needed. Diabetics for instance crave sugar. Not because they don't have enough, they just don't 'feel' like they have enough in the sections of their brain that measure this sort of thing. More calories means among other things, deficiency in other things that will help create and maintain gray matter, as well as an absence of craving creating parasites that want to get fed and also directly poison the nerves and brain. If only anything was simple. I know I would use all the above and any more that I become aware of, don't eat too much, get what I need from what I eat, and feed me but not the bad critters that seem so willing and ready to take up residence on our American diet. I know I will have to learn more. It can't be this easy, can it?

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Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, used brain imaging to examine the effects of increases in body mass index (BMI) on 48 otherwise healthy postmenopausal women. They found that women whose BMI went up following menopause were more likely to have a reduction in gray matter volume.

NOW I know what my problem is.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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