Weight Gain & Alzheimer's Disease

So, probably everyone knows that being overweight or obese puts you at much higher risk for all sorts of diseases and conditions, like stroke, heart disease, heart attack, and diabetes. But did you know that weight gain could increase your risk of getting Alzheimer's disease?

In the journal "Human Brain Mapping", brain scans showed that overweight folks had an average of 4% less brain tissue than normal-weight adults. Obese folks had 8% less.

We're talking about physical brain tissue here, folks! Like the gray & white matter of your brain!

The study showed that the most depleted area of brain tissue was in the frontal lobe, which is the area of your brain responsible for your "higher thinking & reasoning" skills, like problem solving. This area is where dementia happens.

Why?

A high-fat diet clogs arteries, including arteries going to the brain, so oxygen cannot reach brain cells and they die, says lead study author Paul Thompson, Ph.D.

So what can you do?

Get moving! Exercise! Be active! While weight & resistance training has been proven to make you a leaner, healthier, longer-living person, aerobic exercise is the key to this problem. Aerobic exercise helps preserve brain tissues by increasing blood flow to your brain.