Visceral Fat is the fat that is wrapped around our internal 'visceral" organs like the river, pancreas, heart and intestines. 

Visceral fat is able to trigger the inflammatory pathways in the body and can cause signalling molecules that can disrupt the body normal course of hormonal actions. 

As stated in pervious health blogs, excessive body fat increases insulin resistance, but also the production of inflammatory chemicals that can lead to brain degeneration. 

A 2005 study compared waist to hip ratios of more than 100 individuals. The larger the persons waist to hip ratio, the smaller the brains memory centre(the hippocampus)

Another study looked at brain images of individuals in their 60s and 70s. They found that individuals who had a body mass index of over 30, had brains 16 years older than people who had a healthy weight. 

BUT THERES HOPE! 

A study involved people who where over weight and had insulin problems 

Those after a year of only dieting had a 70% increase in insulin sensitivity. Those who dieted and exercised had 86% increase in insulin sensitivity 

A low carb high fat diet is always recommended over a low fat high carb diet. 

A study of over 25,000 men and woman found that lifestyle choice had a large impact on a variety of conditions. 

There are 4 healthy lifestyle factors.
1. Moderate exercise of at least 30 minutes 
2. No smoking
3. Normal weight 
4 .High intake fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low meat consumption 

The found the following

A 78% lower risk of developing ANY chronic disease 
A 93% lower risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes 
A 50% lower risk for a stroke 
A 36% reduction in all forms of cancer 

a 2018 study of over 100,000 patient found that if you followed those same 4 lifestyle facts and added not drinking to excess. You are likely to have lived 12 to 14 years longer!

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The diet hypothesis suggesting a high intake of fat or cholesterol causes heart disease has shown to be .... wrong! 

Participant in a Netherlands study found that a 39 point increase in total cholesterol resulted in a 15% decrease in mortality risk.  They found in their elderly participants that people with the high cholesterol could extend longevity. 

Another 2008 study found that people with ALS( a disease of the motor neurone system) lived one year longer with high levels of cholesterol. 

Still not convinced? The brain is only 2% of the bodies mass BUT it contains 25% Cholesterol. 

Cholesterol forms membranes surrounding cells, keeps cells membrane permeable and reduces chemical reaction that can take place inside and outside the cell. 

Thomas Edison once famously said the chief function of the body is to carry the brain around.

Some interesting facts about the brain are
It weighs approximately 3 pounds 
has one hundred thousand miles of blood vessels 
contains MORE connections than there are stars in the milky way
is the fattest organ in the body 

In this post, we draw from the book Grain Brain, to talk about the importance of nutrients and brain function 

To start, lets inform you that glucose is the major source of energy for most cells. The body can manufacture glucose from fat or proteins.

Insulin is essential for cellular metabolism. It moves glucose from the bloodstream into muscle, fat, and liver cells. Once it is deposited there, it can be used as fuel

IF we have too much processed foods, (too much glucose) our cells adapt and cells desensitise themselves to insulin, then insulin resistance occurs. This leads to cells ignoring the insulin and fail to retrieve glucose from the blood. The pancreas is then forced to produce more insulin and people then develop type 2 diabetes. 

This can lead to high blood sugar and leads to toxic levels in the bloodstream leading to blindness, infections, nerve damage, heart disease and Alzheimers. From a chiropractic point of view, inflammation runs rampant in the body leading to a lot of muscle problems 

Researchers here in Australia have also shown that people who have high blood sugar are at a much greater risk of brain shrinkage. Specifically, the loss of brain volume was in regions involved in memory and cognitive skills.