A new study published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showed that if you eat foods which contain fewer calories you might improve your memory.  This appears to be the first study made on the connection between the calories and the memory improvement.

The studies made on animals have shown memory improvement too but there are still some debates pending on the impact of the calories restriction on the people’s cognitive functions. Yet, the study tracked down only 50 men and women aged 50 to 72 and ranged from normal weight to overweight.

They were divided into three groups and the first one was given the food they normally ate but were advised to cut their calories by 30% by eating smaller portions. Dr. Agnes Flöel of the University of Münster in Germany, a neurologist and one of the researchers, said that the members of the second group were also said to cut the calories by 20% as long as a third group ate normally and without any changes in their dietary system.

The 50 volunteers were tracked for over three months and then involved in some tests of the memorizing of words. The groups advised to cut the calories had 20% improvement in the performance of their memory as long as the group which continued to eat normally showed no change.

Yet, this improvement of the memory may be connected to the decrease in insulin and inflammation in the patients who were asked to cut off the calories. They had also lost 4 to 7 pounds during the time of the study. Dr. Flöel stated that the low levels of insulin might “increase the sensitivity of receptors” inside the brain and thus it may allow the memory to be maintained for a longer time.