How Being Fat Makes You Stupid
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How Being Fat Makes You Stupid
Packing on the pounds isn’t just bad for your body—it’s bad for your brain. According to researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, the brains of obese people work harder than those of normal weight people to achieve the same results.
Researchers quizzed 29 people who were having fMRIs and noticed a trend: The connections between the brain parts responsible for memory and decision-making were hyperactive in overweight people, but functioned normally in average weight people, says study author Timothy Verstynen, Ph.D., a professor at Carnegie Mellon University.
That’s because high blood pressure and inflammation—which go hand-in-hand with obesity—irritate your brain’s communication systems, making it harder for messages to come through, says Verstynen. It’s like your brain is trying to make a call when the phone lines are down.
And it’s a vicious cycle: The damage is particularly bad in areas responsible for controlling impulsive behaviors, like skipping dessert, says Verstynen. So your brain is making you fat (giving into the dessert), and then being fat is changing your brain, he adds.
Here are three more ways that being fat—and eating fatty food—messes with your brain. (Get rid of your gut for good with Speed Shred, the all-new workout DVD series from Men's Health!)
1. It makes you less manly. Say goodbye to your T levels if you’re obese. A 2012 study in the journal Clinical Endocrinology found that testosterone levels in obese teenagers were 40 to 50 percent lower than those of healthy guys the same age. That’s because fat cells can convert testosterone into estrogen and interfere with how your brain calls the production of more testosterone. And low levels of the hormone can do everything from quash your sex life by lowering your libido to weakening your muscles. (Want to boost your levels? Pick up Testosterone Transformation to build muscle, boost sexual vitality, and reclaim your mental edge!)
2. It gives you the blues. A 2010 study of 58,000 people found that obesity increases your risk of depression by 55 percent. Blame both physiology and psychology: Obesity causes inflammation, which research has shown can cause depression by damaging the brain’s circuitry. And the not-so-secret culprit? Fast food. According to a 2012 report in Public Health Nutrition, the top 25 percent of fast food eaters are more than 50 percent likely to suffer from depression.
3. It causes dementia. Being obese in your middle age means you could be four times as likely to develop dementia when you’re older, according to a 2011 study in the journal Neurology. Researchers tracked the weight of 6,500 people over the age of 65 and found a link between those who were obese and those who had dementia. It’s believed that obesity-induced inflammation could actually kill part of your brain’s circuitry that's needed for memory.
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Call me skeptical if you must, but there are a few things that came to my mind when I read the article.
The first and biggest thing that comes to my mind is how one thing causes another. Simply put, while they may find a co-relation, I fail to understand how a co-relation implies a causal link. For example, you can establish a co-relation between drinking an espresso and being obese, but that doesn't mean that drinking an espresso inexorably leads to becoming obese. Granted, I get the connection for obvious reasons, but some of the other references seem a little suspicious to me.
One such example is the link between the T cells (actually referred to as CD4 or CD8 cells) and obeasity just doesn't seem plausible to me. The fact that the original publisher refers to them as "T" cells only makes me wonder about how much scientific credibility that the study actually has…. Just sayin'
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Call me skeptical if you must, but there are a few things that came to my mind when I read the article.
The first and biggest thing that comes to my mind is how one thing causes another. Simply put, while they may find a co-relation, I fail to understand how a co-relation implies a causal link. For example, you can establish a co-relation between drinking an espresso and being obesity, but that doesn't mean that drinking an espresso inexorably leads to becoming obease. Granted, I get the connection for obvious reasons, but some of the other references seem a little suspicious to me.
One such example is the link between the T cells (actually referred to as CD4 or CD8 cells) and obeasity just doesn't seem plausible to me. The fact that the original publisher refers to them as "T" cells only makes me wonder about how much scientific credibility that the study actually has…. Just sayin'
Even though a correlative link does not imply a causal link, all causal links do in fact imply a correlative link; therefore, it is highly likely if there's is high comorbidity then there is a high probability of causality. Also I studied logic and biochemistry in university. You should be prepared to debate your statements regarding T cells. Einstein said a little knowledge is a dangerous thing because people have just enough rope to hang themselves. Thirdly, you shouldn't point out a false cause fallacy without a true understanding of logical tautologies…Just sayin'
http://www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers/announcements/2009/10/more-findings-link-obesity-and-dementia
http://www.chron.com/news/health/article/New-study-links-middle-age-obesity-and-dementia-5706580.php
https://fightdementia.org.au/sites/default/files/20081100_Nat_SUB_NatPrevHlthTaskforce.pdfNCBI
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23401370
Full text article here http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/oby.20037/pdf -
I will concur that your references do indeed point to findings of a co-relation between the two, and do provide some explanation of why this is believed to be. What I would be interested in looking at for argument sake is the genetic background of the people in question to see if its a common thing within their family that develops at that age, and if so, if the process seems to develop any sooner than the family history shows. Things like this are the reason why I say while there may appear to be a corelation on the surface, most studies often overlook other potential factors, and in some cases, completely omit other critical information. Now, I'm not saying that this is the case here, but I am saying that I think there's more information than what appears on the surface to take into account. This is often the flaw with many medical studies. So…. As I said, it may appear on the surface that there's a co-relation between obeasity and dementia, however given the information that is supplied, it leads me to question whether or not one can really establish a causal link between the two.
You should be prepared to debate your statements regarding T cells. Einstein said a little knowledge is a dangerous thing because people have just enough rope to hang themselves.
I have been living with HIV for about 5 years now… Immune system functions are not something new to me at all. "T Cells" as they were once branded actually come in two different forms, namely CD4 and CD8. Generally speaking, when referring to said T cells, they're actually making reference to CD4 cells. There are two other factors that also do not seem to be taken into account with the reference to these cells. One of the biggest factors to take into account when assessing your "T leves" as they have labelled it is the saturation level. While you may have a high CD4/CD8 count, if the saturation (calculated in percentage) is too low, effectively, you won't have a proper defence against anything. By the same measure, you can have a substantially lower CD4 and/or CD8 count, but actually still be quite strong at fighting off any kind of foreign matter in your body, provided that the saturation level is where it should be.
The second factor to take into account when assessing your "T levels" as it were is your CD4/CD8 ratio. If your ratio is too far out of whack, once again, you open yourself up for a whole world of trouble. As a general rule, the CD4/CD8 ratio should be around 0.9 to 1.9. This ratio will also affect the saturation levels as well, which ultimately impact the CD4's effectiveness. These of course are only but 2 of the most major factors when assessing the "T levels". Simply put, the actual level or count alone by itself realisticaly is insufficient to get the full picture.
For these reasons, I don't quite know what to make about the following reference:
1. It makes you less manly. Say goodbye to your T levels if you’re obese.
I also fail to understand how testosterone or hormone levels have any impact on immune system function. Granted, it is possible for there to be an underlaying co-relation for which I am not aware, but based on the information that is given, I can't quite wrap my brain around how one impacts the other, much less why such a general and obviously broad statement relates to obeasity. The other thing that I noted that is a little troublesome to me about that is that before I went to jail, I was a skinny little fucker. At that time, my CD4 count was just barely over 600, however as I gained some weight, I noted that in my case, my CD4 count actually went up as I gained the weight. Granted, there are always exceptions to every rule, and not all people wil be affected in the same way, however I just find it odd that my particular observation seems contrary to what is stated here.
It just brings a lot of questions to mind…. hehe
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I have been living with HIV for about 5 years now… Immune system functions are not something new to me at all.
Having HIV for 5 years does not make one an expert in immunology. Before I start with answering questions, it should be intuitive and extremely obviously that obesity and heaviness, be it genetic or self-induced, is bad for your health in previous post I wrote there Class I obesity shaves 10 years from your life and Class III obesity shave up to 21 years from your life regardless of why you are obese.
There are obesogenic interactions from genes. See POMC proopiomelanocortin gene which regulates the melanocortin superfamily MC1R, MC2R, MC3R, MC4R, MC5R.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/5443The web address shows a genetic interaction for POMC and the mutations which can cause obesity. This being said, just because it is the fault of your gene does not make it healthy. It just means you have undesirable genes, and you have been dealt a bad hand and you will have to take extra precautions.
Also, the article is a cautionary tale, if one chooses to binge eat or not to lose weight that's their prerogative. They reap what they sow.
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Having HIV for 5 years does not make one an expert in immunology.
It kind of does actually becuase knowing the ins and outs of immunology is kind of a requirement in order to keep yourself alive. If you do knot know enough about the way that the human immune system works when living with HIV, you quite literally set yourself up for a most certain doom. Then again, what would I know? I've only been having to keep myself up to date with such things for the last 5 years becuase my life depends on it :lolp:
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I would concede that you may know how HIV works, but not immunology entirely or else why go to medical school or the doctor. Secondly, your doctor and drugs like abacavir have kept you alive. Also, the same care that keeps you alive, should have been the same care that prevented it from happening in the first place.
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I would concede that you may know how HIV works, but not immunology entirely or else why go to medical school or the doctor. Secondly, your doctor and drugs like abacavir have kept you alive. Also, the same care that keeps you alive, should have been the same care that prevented it from happening in the first place.
WOW!! I don't even begin to know where to start with that one. First off, HIV is short for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. (Note the word that is underlined). Simply put, it has everything to do with the immune system. In order to work with it, one must first understand the workings of the immune system. If you don't have any understanding of immunology and the way the immune system works, then you don't stand a chance in hell at managing your health and keeping on top of things. There's more involved to it than just taking the meds actually… much more. For example, eating habits (including how much of what you eat), excercise, and a proper balance of enzimes in your blood stream have a great impact on how one must manage with such things, as they all affect the immune system. And really...?! Abacavir? Are you serious?! That med has long since been placed in the obsolite antique pile of meds, along side AZT, D4T, and 3TC. Just sayin'.... It may be helpful to get some more up to date information.
I would concede that you may know how HIV works, but not immunology entirely or else why go to medical school or the doctor.
There is one very simple answer to this question… Within the province of Ontario, without a certificate (license if you will) from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, one cannot legally practice medicine, and therefore, are not able to do such things as write a prescription for the drugs that are necessary as a part of keeping themselves alive.
It's actually kind of sad to see that at this day and age, there are people out there who believe that you can only know what you know if you have a piece of paper that says so. This is a large part of the "problem" with society, especially given that there are a LOT of people out there who have a plethora of pieces of paper that say that in theory they know what they're talking about, however are complete morons and don't know the first thing about what they're dealing with. By the same token, there are also people who are self-educated, with no official pieces of paper to say that they know what they know who have a much more advanced knowledge of the subjects they have taught themselves than the people with those fancy pieces of paper. It's like saying that a mother who has successfully raised 12 children who all turned out to be successful knows nothing about taking care of or raising a child, simply because she doesn't have a piece of paper that says she knows how to read, write, and regurgitate a "standard" set of information that gets determined by some organization and varies from one region to another.
While on that topic, I suggest that you get all your facts properly before running your mouth. You assume that my contracting HIV was the result of negligence or other such stupidity on my part. Just to set the record straight, I contracted HIV by getting raped. I never asked for someone to infect me with HIV, nor did I go around being careless about my practices to end up infected. In fact, the particular sexual experience that resulted in my HIV infection wasn't exactly consentual. If it were up to me, I would never have had sex with the man who infected me, but when you're backed into a corner and forcibly taken against your will after declining sex several times by someone much bigger and much stronger than you, suddenly, there's no choice in the matter. I will be clear when I say that I never wished to have HIV, and it most certainly was not the reult of my own doing as you seem to imply. So again as I said.... Before you go assuming things, it generaly helps to have all of the facts.
By the same token, I could also ask you the same question. Do you have any fancy piece of paper that says you're "certified" in immunology? For that matter, what "formal" experience or background do you have in the field? It just so happens that I, like most people I know with HIV, have had to keep on top of such material myself in order to best understand how to manage my health, since as I said, a doctor and drugs alone simply aren't enough to keep things in check. To be perfectly blunt, there have even been times when I have actually had to explain things to my doctor for whatever reason, which only further illustrates my pervious point about a fancy piece of paper.
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The piece of paper is a symbol. It means you have been schooled. Since you are so smart, medical school will be a breeze and you will get that piece of paper. I have a piece of paper that says I have taken an immunology course work i.e., a transcript. To prevent the spread of AIDS/HIV the Swedish government passed legislation that made it difficult for bars to exist outside of hotels and requires the purchase of food with any alcoholic beverage. As a result, the bars are cleaner and they are not cruisy dens of inequity like in New York City and other big cities. Violent crime is quite low, even in big cities like Stockholm. The topic was about obesity and stupidity, if you are not fat then you have less to worry about.
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who posts this evil fucking shit? my ex is fat and harvard educated! I may be fat but I can go on a diet and get skinny you can undo stupid and this post and person are way stupid in my book! fucking ignorant asshole more like it!
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I may be fat but I can go on a diet and get skinny you can undo stupid and this post and person are way stupid in my book!
"you can undo stupid" sounds pretty stupid "in my book".
Obesity is a horribly serious epidemic. It increases the cost of health insurance for everyone else, it promotes gluttony and sets a poor precedent for children. The American First Lady is currently on a crusade to end obesity in the States.
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:police: Dispute the facts, but no personal fighting. :police:
2. It gives you the blues. A 2010 study of 58,000 people found that obesity increases your risk of depression by 55 percent. Blame both physiology and psychology: Obesity causes inflammation, which research has shown can cause depression by damaging the brain’s circuitry. And the not-so-secret culprit? Fast food. According to a 2012 report in Public Health Nutrition, the top 25 percent of fast food eaters are more than 50 percent likely to suffer from depression.
This is a circular thing.
Depression often causes obesity, which leads to more depression.
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Also, the same care that keeps you alive, should have been the same care that prevented it from happening in the first place.
Slut shaming pure and simple. There should be zero tolerance for this.
As a side note: I can self edit but only so many times…
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All I can really say is consider your source. Given some of the information that was presented, there are still a number of questions surrounding the content of the original post. Somehow though, I don't think getting a clear answer will ever be possible.
Also, the same care that keeps you alive, should have been the same care that prevented it from happening in the first place.
Slut shaming pure and simple. There should be zero tolerance for this.
You could call it slut shaming, but that would imply that I am actually ashamed of what happened, when the fact is that it really doesn't bother me anymore.
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The vernacular here is always interesting. With neologisms like slut-shaming, why bother keeping a dictionary or thesaurus "handy". :cool2:
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The vernacular here is always interesting. With neologisms like slut-shaming, why bother keeping a dictionary or thesaurus "handy". :cool2:
Correct me if I am wrong but are you not the same individual who posted the definition of ostensible after I used it in a post correctly as if to imply I had not used the word correctly?
I don't bother keeping a dictionary handy, I have 2 (as well as the old google) because sometimes 1 definition is not enough.
"Only philosophers embark on this perilous expedition to the outermost reaches of language and existence. Some of them fall off, but others cling on desperately and yell at the people nestling deep in the snug softness, stuffing themselves with delicious food and drink. 'Ladies and Gentlemen,' they yell, 'we are floating in space!' But none of the people down there care." - Jostein Gaarder
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You could call it slut shaming, but that would imply that I am actually ashamed of what happened, when the fact is that it really doesn't bother me anymore.
Sorry, I did consider the implications of my statement when I made it being that you are a slut capable of shame and meant to add a caveat but despite that I stand by my original stance, that statement was slut-shaming even if you are the Virgin Mary who was immaculately seroconverted.
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You could call it slut shaming, but that would imply that I am actually ashamed of what happened, when the fact is that it really doesn't bother me anymore.
Sorry, I did consider the implications of my statement when I made it being that you are a slut capable of shame and meant to add a caveat but despite that I stand by my original stance, that statement was slut-shaming even if you are the Virgin Mary who was immaculately seroconverted.
I just like pressing your buttons. temper, temper. Let us not be tangential. The topic is being fat makes you stupid. :cool2:
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Clearly I am demonstrating your construct.
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All I read was
Researchers quizzed 29 people who were having fMRIs and noticed a trend
29 People? That's all? Notice the word "correlation" was not even used. This is a junk study and these researchers are intelligent enough to know this. This is an opinion, I'm not completely sure why some people got upset about it, but it might be because the title of this post is misleading. Also, it's even hinted in the direct quote to what the real cause of what this "lack of intelligence" could be caused by. I doubt being obese (which could potentially lead to those conditions) is directly causing lower intelligence, but rather the potential side effects of it. Also, these subjects were conveniently in some type of test, so there is inherent (and significant) selection bias.
A more appropriate title for this post would be : "High blood pressure and inflammation might make you stupid."
Edit: Also, it appears you copied this from an out dated article on menshealth.com, this website is owned by an institution that generates income from advertising revenue, their sole purpose is to draw as much income through catchy titles/articles as possible. It is not to provide accurate medical information, it is not a source of information that should be considered "trustworthy." The content is provided for "entertainment purposes" only, as with many media publications.
