Fatty Foods Affect Memory and Exercise Performance

Death Metal writes "Eating fatty food appears to take an almost immediate toll on both short-term memory and exercise performance, according to new research on rats and people. Other studies have suggested that that long-term consumption of a high-fat diet is associated with weight gain, heart disease and declines in cognitive function. But the new research shows how indulging in fatty foods over the course of a few days can affect the brain and body long before the extra pounds show up."

Comments

Re:High-fat, but no carbs

[Archtech]

"Low or no-carb diets are bad".

Thanks for that unsupported, dogmatic statement. Gee, now I know the truth!

"Just get on your bike or lift dumbells. Killing your body by removing a required nutrient isn't a diet, it's stupid. Probably as much as vegans".

AFAIK carbohydrates in any form are not required nutrients. At least, there are plenty of documented cases of people living long, happy, healthy, productive lives without ever tasting them. The Inuit, for instance, used to regard plants as unfit for human consumption, and would never touch them unless they were starving. OTOH there is evidence that excessive carbohydrates (or possibly the wrong kind) can gradually bring about insulin resistance, obesity, and eventually diabetes.

"Simple equation: energy in == energy consumed".

Yes, you're right: that IS a simple equation. And you sound like a simple person. Why on earth do you imagine that an immensely complex biological organism like a human being should function like a diesel engine? In fact, even a diesel engine doesn't work the way you suggest. Butter has energy, doesn't it? You would certainly rebuke a person who ate butter for too much "energy in". What happens if you put butter in your car's diesel tank - does it turn into "energy consumed"? No, it just clogs up the works and prevents any energy from being consumed.

Again, there is ample evidence to show that some people (as in many thousands) have consumed well under 2000 calories a month for decades, in the form of carbohydrates, while doing hard physical work - and wound up grossly obese. Just as others (usually much wealthier) have eaten far more than 2000 calories a day for years, while doing little or no physical work, and remained lean and fit.

Consider, if it's not too challenging, the possibility that human bodies treat different nutrients in different ways. Ask yourself why - if constant weight can be maintained only by making sure that "energy in equals energy out" - most human beings (and other animals) keep their weight within a pound or two for decades on end.

"If that is not the case, you're doing it wrong. You obviously have enough self-discipline to prevent yourself from eating things you decide, so why not have the self-discipline to do the same using a healthy diet and some exercise?"

Yes, that's right - join the bulk of the scientific, medical, and political establishments - and the big food manufacturers who fund them - and blame the victims. It might be possible to do as you suggest if they would tell us what constitutes a healthy diet. Most intelligent, open-minded people who have taken the trouble to inquire about the subject and researched it widely for years must be quite bewildered by now.