Is your high-fat diet damaging your memory?
If you find yourself thinking, "Fat chance I'll remember that," you may be on to something. If you're part of the 66% of American adults who eat more unhealthy fats than recommended, you may be damaging your memory-related cognition -- and that's especially true if you eat a high-fat diet in the days or weeks leading up to surgery.
That's the conclusion of researchers who examined lab rats' responses to ingesting fatty foods for as few as three days. They found that the inflammation associated with the high-fat diet is enough to dim memory-building in older animals, and when the inflammation that comes along with surgery is added to that -- well, that spells double trouble, even for younger ones. These findings are added to the researchers' many other studies that show that unhealthy brain aging is often the result of long-term inflammation that hampers brain cells' ability to bounce back from damage done to them.
The good news is that the researchers found that the omega-3 fatty acid DHA protects against the memory-damaging effects of inflammation and surgery. The researchers suggest that anyone who eats a high-fat diet can gain brain-protecting benefits by eating foods with DHA, such as fatty fish like salmon, herring and ocean trout, and taking supplements of fish oil or algal oil omega-3's (containing DHA and EPA fatty acids).
To discover more benefits of eating healthy fats and taking omega-3 supplements, sign up for the free newsletter at LongevityPlaybook.com and read iHerb.com's blog: "Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Benefits + Why They Are So Important."
Dr. Mike Roizen is the founder of www.longevityplaybook.com, and Dr. Mehmet Oz is global advisor to www.iHerb.com, the world's leading online health store. Roizen and Oz are chief wellness officer emeritus at Cleveland Clinic and professor emeritus at Columbia University, respectively. Together they have written 11 New York Times bestsellers (four No. 1's).
(c)2024 Michael Roizen, M.D.
Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
(c) 2024 Michael Roizen, M.D. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
