Well Being: Anti-Obesity Strategies and Memory
If this essay doesn't motivate you to lose weight, I don't know what will.
My health has really taken a beating in the last two years. As many know, I suffered adverse events after my two jabs in April 2021. Since then, it has been one thing after another - and of course, the intense stress has literally been killing me.
I recently switched doctors, and my friend and colleague Dr. Brooke Miller is now also my physician. Having someone I know and trust as a physician is such a treat. Long story short, Dr. Miller convinced me that I needed to make radical changes in my diet.
So, for the past three weeks, I have been following a low carbohydrate, modified ketogenic diet with some intermittent fasting.
For me, this has not been an easy change. Giving up grains and carbs is not easy! But I went cold-turkey and wham! The effects were immediate. I dropped weight and my energy levels increased dramatically. My blood pressure is getting in better control, and I am looking forward to seeing the effects on lipid profiles and pre-diabetic markers in my next blood draw.
So, today I am just going to highly a couple of important new papers that confirm some of the positive effects of this diet.
Influence of anti-obesity strategies on brain function in health and review: A review
Neurochemistry International Volume 163, February 2023, 105468
Abstract
The aim of this review was to investigate in the literature the application of strategies such as low carbohydrate diet (LCD), ketogenic diet (KD) and intermittent fasting (IF) and their effects on the CNS (central nervous system). We performed a narrative review of the literature. The search was specifically carried out in PubMed, selecting articles in English, which had the following keywords: obesity, central nervous system, low carb diet, ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting, using the narrative review methodology.
The studies found show that the benefits of the low carbohydrate diet, ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting strategies, at the CNS level, have a strong influence on the mechanisms of hunger and satiety, as well as on the reduction of food reward and show improvement in memory and mood influenced by the interventions.
A few snippets from the article include the following:
Obesity: Obesity is considered a global epidemic. This disease is defined as an excess of adipose tissue in the body composition, being multifactorial, with genetic, behavioral, neuroendocrine, socioeconomic, and environmental origins. It has as its main characteristic the energy imbalance that results from the excess consumption of calories compared to those expended, leading to a positive energy balance.
Obesity and the central nervous system In obesity, brain homeostasis (a state of equilibrium) is compromised due to the installed neuroinflammation process. The hypothalamus is a brain structure that initiates this neuroinflammation process because it contributes to the recruitment of inflammatory cells that cause a hyperpermeability of the blood-brain barrier.
This review paper confirms what so many have come to believe from the pure power of observation. That memory and mood is can actually be enhanced by diet changes.
Effects of the ketogenic diet on cognition: a systematic review
Nutr Neurosci. 2022 Nov 10;1-21. doi: 10.1080/1028415X.2022.2143609. Online ahead of print.
Abstract:
Introduction: Ketogenic diet (KD) therapy has been used as a dietary intervention in drug-resistant epilepsy for several years. Research currently suggests that Ketogenic diet therapy may carry neuroprotective and cognition enhancing effects for individuals with non-epileptic conditions as well as for healthy individuals. Therefore, Ketogenic diet may have potential as a non-invasive, nutritional treatment approach for difficult to manage conditions such as neurodegenerative illnesses or mood disorders. The aim of this review is to summarize the available evidence on ketogenic interventions and the resulting cognitive outcomes.
Materials and Methods: The paper was based on PRISMA 2020 guidelines. The search was conducted in June 2021 on the following databases: CENTRAL, PubMed, EMBASE, PsycInfo, Web of Science. The search yielded 2014 studies, of which 49 were included. Results: There were 22 animal studies assessing murine models and 27 studies on humans. The primary indications in these studies were epileptic conditions, neurodegenerative disorders, cognitive impairment, and healthy populations.
Discussion: Administration of a Ketogenic diet seems to confer cognitive-enhancing effects in areas such as working memory, reference memory and attention. Studies found that Ketogenic diet treatment in animals has the potential to alleviate age-related cognitive decline. Over 80% of the 27 human studies reported a favourable effect of intervention, and none reported a detrimental effect of KD.
This meta-analysis also shows a link between a ketogenic diet with enhanced memory and attention.
If you are on a similar journey, let’s share tips and tricks as well as successes (and failures) in the comments.