Weight Loss Diet & the Brain
Weight Loss Study Aim
To investigate if long-term caloric restriction under controlled conditions
adversely affects cognitive function in obese women. Subjects were healthy,
pre-menopausal women between 23-42 y. Dieting group: n = 14. Control group:
n = 11.
Weight Loss Study Design
Longitudinal Weight Study (repeated measures within-subject design) with
3 weeks of baseline, 15 weeks of 50 percent caloric restriction, and 3
weeks of weight stabilization.
Weight Loss Study Results
Dieting women lost 12.3 +/- 5.5 kg of body weight. Controlled long-term
caloric restriction significantly slowed simple reaction time but did
not diminish sustained attention, motor performance or immediate memory.
Word recall performance significantly improved by 24 percent at the end
of caloric restriction.
Weight Loss Study Conclusions
The slowing of simple reaction time is a short-term and long-term consequence
of caloric restriction. In contrast to previous short-term dieting studies,
sustained attention and immediate memory were not impaired with long-term
caloric restriction.
Source: Kretsch MJ, Green MW, Fong AK,
Elliman NA, Johnson HL. U.S. Department of Agricultural, Agriculture Research
Service, Western Human Nutrition Research Center, Presidio of San Francisco,
California 94129, USA. 1997
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