My short-term memory has always been less than stellar. Often it has been nearly non-existent, at least for what I have always called “casually acquired information”. I have taken higher doses of omega 3 for several years and that always has a positive effect on my memory, but I have always believed that effect is because it helps me concentrate.
Today the New York Times has a very interesting article about a fatty diet and poor memory, and anything that has to do with findings on memory automatically interests me.
Fatty Foods Affect Memory and Exercise[Excerpts]
Eating fatty food appears to take an almost immediate toll on both short-term memory and exercise performance, according to new research on rats and people.
[snip]
To determine the effect of a fatty diet on memory and muscle performance, researchers studied 32 rats that were fed low-fat rat chow and trained for two months to complete a challenging maze. The maze included eight different paths that ended with a treat of sweetened condensed milk. The goal was for the rat to find each treat without doubling back into a corridor where it had already been. The maze was wiped down with alcohol, so the rat had to rely on memory rather than sense of smell.
All of the rats studied had mastered the maze, finding at least six or seven of the eight treats before making a mistake. Some rats even found all eight on the first try.
Then half the rats were switched to high-fat rat chow (comprised of 55 percent fat), while the remaining rats stayed on their regular chow (which had 7.5 percent fat). After four days, the rats eating the fatty chow began to falter on the maze test — all of them did worse than when they were on their regular chow. On average, the rats on the fatty diet found only five treats before making a mistake. The rats who stayed with their regular food continued the same high level of performance on the maze, finding six or more treats before making a mistake.
[snip]
“We expected to see changes, but maybe not so dramatic and not in such a short space of time,’’ said Andrew Murray, the study’s lead author and a lecturer in physiology at Cambridge University in Britain. “It was really striking how quickly these effects happened.’’
Although the human data aren’t yet published, the researchers have also performed similar studies of high-fat diets in healthy young men who then performed exercise and cognitive tests. Dr. Murray said he is still reviewing the data, but the short-term effect of a fatty diet on humans appears to be similar to that found in the rat studies.
Several months ago I started a very low fat diet but at roughly the same time I started taking choline [cytidie-5’-diphosphate choline] supplements in an attempt to counteract the negative effects on my memory of very stressful work demands. My short term and long term memory recall has improved markedly even though my stress level has seen no appreciable reduction.
I have been assigning the cognitive improvement to the choline supplementation, however now I suspect that it may be solely due to the very low fat diet. I have such a strong suspicion that I am going to suspend the choline to test the theory. Now, my experiences are simply anecdotal and in no way scientific, but the differences [anecdotal or otherwise] have been significant for me.
The New York Times article also gives me yet another reason to never go back to the way I ate previously. My memory – it’s limitations – has always been an embarrassment to me. So embarrassing that I have on occasion considered asking my doctor for a cognition evaluation. But I tell myself that it’s a matter of degrees kinda thing – I cram a lot of information into my over taxed grey matter – and I want to be able to recall that information with ease. I become frustrated when I can’t.
So, whether I actually have a cognition issue or it’s just not “perfect” as I wish it were – I don’t really know. I do know that I’ve seen significant improvements – now I’m going to test out which of the two things I’ve changed, diet or choline, is responsible. I highly suspect it’s going to turn out to be the fat restricted diet.
How empowering if that turns out to be the case!