The Newest Peril of Obesity

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Two-thirds of adults in the United States are overweight and this number doesn't even include the 30 percent that are suffering from obesity. While a poor diet increases one's risk of heart disease, hypertension and diabetes, researchers have uncovered an even deeper concern: Cognitive decline.

According to studies on mice, a high-fat diet and empty calories may damage one's memory. Moreover, reducing the intake of fat and sugar may actually improve memory and reduce the negative effects of aging on both thinking and learning.

In one study, young adult mice were divided into four dietary groups:

• Normal (control) diet
• High-fat diet
• High-sugar diet
• High-fat/high-sugar diet

After a period of four months, the mice on the high-fat and high-fat/high-sugar diets gained significantly more weight than the mice in the control and high-sugar groups. All of the mice were then expected to complete a maze task in order to test their learning and memory. As anticipated, the mice that had gained weight had a harder time learning and remembering the maze, compared to the mice in the other two diet groups.

Researchers concluded that fast-food diets, or diets high in saturated fats, could adversely affect learning and memory.

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