A new study suggests that simply by cutting back on the Calories and Fats in our diets, we can help keep our brains young. Alas, obesity and a love of Fats are twin scourges of our western culinary culture, especially among the aged and elderly. Seems exercise also plays a beneficial role…
This is not the way to go if you want to stay healthy and mentally sharp!
“Obesity and aging are both prevalent and increasing in societies worldwide, but the consequences for the central nervous system are not well understood,” says Bart Eggen, Lead Author of the study recently published in Frontiers, and a researcher at the University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands.
Eggen and his team discovered a correlation between High-Cal and Fatty diets and the health of Microglia, brain cells that help maintain the integrity and normal functioning of brain tissue. Dysfunction of these cells, as may occur in disease, is linked to neurodevelopmental disorders and neurodegenerative conditions. Aging is also associated with inflammation driven by microglia in specific regions of the brain, but it is unclear whether diet or lifestyle can influence this process.
What they found…
“Aging-induced inflammatory activation of microglia could only be prevented when mice were fed a low-fat diet in combination with limited caloric intake,” says Eggen. “A low-fat diet per se was not sufficient to prevent these changes.”
The researchers also found that exercise was significantly less effective than caloric restriction at preventing these changes, although work by others has shown that exercise is associated with reducing the risk of other diseases.
Still just at the ‘Mice’ stage, but…
Eggen’s experiments are still just at the early stages – his findings have been shown to be valid or lab mice. But Mice are said to be physically very close to Humans on many counts on the micro-level, so I’m talking the leap and taking Eggen seriously.
Obviously there is more work to be done, here.
But I’m already on a reduced-Cal regimen (compared to how much I used to eat) and I’ve not only lot weight but feel sharper and – yes! – younger, again. Guess I’ll keep doing what I’ve been doing…
~ Maggie J.