In a recent series of studies, researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital discovered that eating a high fat diet can have a significant effect on cognitive function. Not only that, but they also discovered that the type of fat you eat makes a difference in brain functioning. This new information is enough to make you stop and think – if you can – about what you are eating and how much of it you are enjoying on a regular basis.
Bad Fat vs Good Fat
We’ve all heard the saying that bad fat is bad and good fat is good. However, in this case, it really is true. Bad fats are things like processed foods containing trans fats. If you look at the ingredients and see things such as vegetable shortening, partially hydrogenated oils, then the food likely has trans fats, even if the label does not specifically say so. Other types of bad fats are saturated fats, such as those found in processed red meat and butter. Good fats are vegetable fats. Foods such as olive oil and avocados are high in good fats. Also, nuts are high in good fats.
The studies from Brigham and Woman’s Hospital found that eating a diet high in saturated and bad fats resulted in poor performance on memory and cognitive functioning testing. In this research, tests were performed multiple times in a long term study and the findings were consistent over time. In contrast to individuals eating diets high in bad fats, those who ate diets high in good fats performed better on both types of tests.
We’ve been hearing for quite some time that bad fats are terrible for your heart. Who knew that bad fat was also bad for your brain?
– The Alternative Daily
