Memory and Concentration – Two More Benefits of Weight Loss

There’s no argument that obesity is a major health issue in America today. More people than ever are overweight due to improper diet and a lack of exercise. And it’s no secret that losing weight can help lower your chances of a multitude of health problems including high blood pressure, breast or colon cancer, sleep apnea, diabetes, high cholesterol, stroke, heart attack, and more. But now a pair of new benefits that accompany weight loss have been uncovered that are as interesting as they are surprising. In addition to your physical health, it appears that losing weight can help your mental acuity as well. Specifically, it can improve your memory and concentration.

A study at Cornell Medical College, Weill Columbia University Medical Center, and the Neuropsychiatric Research Institute in Fargo, North Dakota was led by Dr. John Gunstad uncovered the findings using 109 bariatric surgery patients and 41 obese control subjects. Tests were given to each of the subjects prior to their surgeries which assessed their mental faculties. The majority of the 109 subjects displayed slight problems with their mental functions, mainly their memory and concentration abilities. When the tests were repeated twelve weeks after the bariatric surgeries, the cognitive abilities of the subjects had returned to the normal range.

The researchers intend to follow the test subjects over a period of two years, but their data certainly suggests that weight loss can help improve the concentration, memory, and problem solving abilities of overweight patients. The findings were of little surprise to the researchers, mainly due to the fact that many health conditions that are caused by obesity such as Type 2 diabetes or hypertension can limit and impede brain functions. By helping alleviate these symptoms, their effects on the patient’s brain also returns to normal. With these findings, cognitive functions can be added to the list of health benefits brought about by weight loss.

While these tests were done only on patients who underwent bariatric surgery, Dr. Gunstad has said that his next step is to perform the test on subjects who have lost weight without surgical aid to compare the results. Previous studies have already found that subjects of all ages and at a normal weight who improved their cardiovascular health saw improvements to their brain functions. Obesity has always been known to be a deadly condition that affected many areas of physical health. Now, it seems, it can be directly related to mental acuity problems as well. This is all the more evidence to support losing weight and getting in shape.