Warning for men with beer bellies, as scientists discover protruding intestines can increase the risk of dementia

Beer bellies may cause brain aging and impaired cognition in middle-aged men, a study has found.

Those with extra belly weight and with a family history of Alzheimer’s disease were found to have lower brain function.

Researchers believe that higher fat deposits in the pancreas and liver may lead to a higher risk of dementia.

However, this was not the case for women.

Michal Schnaider Beeri, from Rutgers Health, New Jersey, said: ‘In middle-aged men at high risk for Alzheimer’s disease, but not in women, higher pancreatic fat was associated with lower cognition and brain volumes, suggesting a possible gender-specific relationship between different abdominal muscles. fat with brain health.”

The researchers studied 204 healthy, middle-aged people with a family history of Alzheimer’s disease.

They found that men with more belly fat had lower cognitive function.

Previous studies have shown that men with a higher BMI are at increased risk of dementia.

But this new research suggests the problem relates specifically to midlife spread.

Subcutaneous fat (left) is more visible outside the body and fills the outer muscle layers just below the skin. People with more of this fat will have a ‘pear-shaped’ body. People with more visceral fat (right), which is more dangerous but less noticeable, are at increased risk for many metabolic diseases

Sapir Golan Shekhtman, from Sheba Medical Center in Israel, added: ‘Our findings indicate stronger correlations compared to the relationships between BMI and cognition, suggesting that abdominal fat depots, rather than BMI, are a risk factor for lower cognitive functioning and a higher risk of dementia. .’

The study was published in the journal Obesity.

The excess fat that accumulates around the torso and surrounds vital organs is called visceral fat – and it contributes to a beer belly and an unwanted apple body shape.

Visceral fat is the most dangerous type and leaks fatty acids into the bloodstream. It’s different from the less dangerous subcutaneous fat that accumulates just beneath the skin’s surface and is responsible for wobbly fat and cellulite.

It comes after a study of more than 2.5 million people found that every additional 10cm in waist size was associated with an 11 per cent higher chance of dying prematurely from any cause.

But having wide hips or bigger thighs can help us live longer, the study says.

Many academics believe that waist circumference is a more accurate indicator of obesity and the risk of diseases such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease than the commonly used body mass index (BMI).

WHAT SHOULD A BALANCED DIET LOOK LIKE?

Meals should be based on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates, preferably whole grains, according to the NHS

• Eat at least 5 portions of varied fruit and vegetables every day. All fresh, frozen, dried and canned fruits and vegetables count

• Basic meals on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates, preferably whole wheat

• 30 grams of fiber per day: This is the same as eating all of the following: 5 servings of fruits and vegetables, 2 whole wheat cereal biscuits, 2 thick slices of whole wheat bread and large baked potato with skin on

• Provide some dairy or dairy alternatives (such as soy drinks), opting for lower fat and lower sugar options

• Eat some beans, legumes, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins (including 2 portions of fish per week, one portion of which is fatty)

• Choose unsaturated oils and spreads and consume them in small quantities

• Drink 6-8 cups/glasses of water per day

• Adults should have less than 6 g of salt and 20 g of saturated fat for women or 30 g for men per day

Source: NHS Eatwell Guide