The Weight Of Evidence

THERE’S A HUGE AMOUNT OF INFORMATION OUT THERE ABOUT THE HEALTH IMPLICATIONS OF BEING OVERWEIGHT. OUR PANEL OF EXPERTS SHARE THEIR INSIGHTS

- Sarah Marinos

MAINTAIN A HEALTHY WEIGHT FOR YOUR BRAIN’S SAKE

British research says that from middleage, the brains of obese men and women age more quickly. It seems the volume of white matter (the tissue that connects areas of our brain to help our brain communicate) reduces in the brains of overweight people. But it’s not clear why people who are overweight have a greater reduction in the amount of white matter. The study found an overweight person at 50 had the same amount of white matter as a slimmer 60-year-old − so their brain had aged another 10 years.

Know the risk

“There is strong evidence that 13 different cancers are linked to excess body weight or excess fat,” says Steve Pratt from the Cancer Council in Australia. Those are: post-menopausal breast cancer, bowel cancer, kidney cancer, pancreatic cancer, liver cancer, endometrial cancer, multiple myeloma (cancer in the bone marrow), cancer of the gallbladder, stomach, thyroid, oesophagus, ovaries and meningioma − a type of brain tumour. “Fat tissue is not just a benign store of energy; it’s biologically active,” he adds. “Fat around the vital organs releases chemicals that are pro-inflammatory and a lot of diseases, like cancer, are diseases of inflammation.”

Take care of the basics