Did you watch this year’s finale of The Biggest Loser? Did you think that as well as looking a whole lot trimmer by series end, contestants seemed mentally sharper as well? If new research findings are anything to go by, that may well be the case.

A recent study carried out by researchers from Kent State University’s Department of Psychology found a link between weight loss and improved memory and concentration.

Lead study author and associate professor at Kent State, John Gunstad, said, ‘The initial idea came from our clinical work. I was working at Brown Medical School in Rhode Island at the time and had the chance to work with a large number of people who were looking to lose weight through either behavioral means or weight loss surgery’.

Gunstad noticed that these patients would make similar cognitive mistakes; ‘As a neuropsychologist who is focused on how the brain functions, I look for these little mental errors all the time’ he said.

For the study, 109 bariatric surgery patients and 41 obese control subjects were observed. A large number of the bariatric surgery patients displayed impaired performance on cognitive testing. However, 12 weeks after the weight loss surgery, their memory and concentration had improved from ‘slightly impaired’ to ‘normal’ range.

‘The primary motivation for looking at surgery patients is that we know they lose a lot of weight in a short amount of time, so it was a good group to study. This is the first evidence to show that by going through this surgery, individuals might improve their memory, concentration and problem solving’ said Gunstad.

Of course, this study related to the cognitive changes in surgical weight loss patients, rather than individuals who have gone about losing weight through exercise and dietary means. Gunstad aims for the next stage of the research to focus on this group, and he is optimistic that results will follow a similar trajectory.

‘One of the things we know is that as individuals become more cardiovascular fit and their heart health gets better, their brain health also improves. Even if we take young adults and put them through an exercise program, their memory and their concentration get better by the end of the program’ Gunstad added.

Source: Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases

For dieters, Easter is full of temptation. Only Christmas causes more damage in terms of calories. So what should you do if you have succumbed to chocolate? Here is some advice to help you get back on track.

Once the last crème egg has disappeared it’s time to get back to your usual routine. Drinking lots of water will help. Over the next few days after Easter try to eat lighter by cutting down on carbs like pasta and bread. Top up on fruit and vegetables after all, spring is a great time to enjoy nature’s harvest.

People who exercise regularly will tell you they feel better. Some will say it’s because chemicals called neurotransmitters, produced in the brain, are stimulated during exercise. Since it’s believed that neurotransmitters mediate our moods and emotions, they can make us feel better and less stressed.
While there’s no scientific evidence to conclusively support the neurotransmitter theory, there is plenty to show that exercise provides stress-relieving benefits.

Do you have your best body? By that, I don’t just mean how it looks, but how it works. Does it take on your daily activities with energy and ease or does get in the way? Getting your best body doesn’t necessarily mean being the smallest size or having the buffest body. It means having a body that does what you need it to do without aches and pains. The good news is, it doesn’t take much to get your best body.

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