Is a brain-healthy diet good for the body? Is it good for weight control?
There are intimate connections between the brain and our fat tissue stores. Over millions of years they have enabled us to survive during prolonged food shortages by allowing us to store food energy as fat, by slowing down the rate at which we burn calories during times of famine and by making our fat cells “sticky” – meaning that they hang on to stored calories very tightly. However, as our diet has changed these vital survival traits (that enhance fat storage) have been turned on (and left on) far too frequently. The result is the epidemic of obesity we are experiencing today. These forces also contribute to the rise in memory lapses and Alzheimer’s disease that the world is experiencing. I discuss them in detail in my book Feed Your Brain Lose Your Belly. The science behind sticky fat cells, the Brain-Belly connection, explanations of common dietary paradoxes, how to make the right food choices and why the dietary recommendations I discuss produce weight loss are all presented.
