Currently, although this is the historical moment in which we pay more attention to our body and diet, the rates of overweight and obesity continue to increase around the world, diet and exercise programs fail in the long term, but it seems that the therapy of Cognitive remediation may be the key to the solution.
The suitability of this therapy as a key element of obesity control is due to its ability to improve executive functions, current research shows that people with obesity struggle to make good decisions for their health due to changes in these functions.
- The origin of the dissegtive profile found in obese people is unknown.
- However.
- There is an undeniable two-way relationship between impaired executive function and obesity:.
These points require a comprehensive approach that goes beyond conventional methods based on diet and exercise, and it is in this regard that cognitive remediation therapy has a lot to contribute.
Cognitive remediation therapy is a psychological intervention based on the conduct of a series of mental exercises whose goal is to improve cognitive strategies and the ability to think and process information through practice.
It is a therapy that stimulates reflection on one’s thinking to give rise to healthier behaviors, whose main objective is to strengthen, more specifically, impaired cognitive abilities.
In the case of obesity, cognitive remediation should be directed to improve executive functions.
Cognitive Obesity Remediation Therapy (CRT-O) is a face-to-face treatment that aims to optimize executive functioning to improve the thinking style associated with diet and exercise. The goal is a healthy lifestyle.
CRT-O was designed to give obese people the tools to think differently and consists of a series of mental exercises designed to improve cognitive strategies through the practice of skills and information processes.
Research shows that “weight loss” programs that include CRT-O have better results: better lifestyle, increased weight loss, reduced episodes of excessive food intake, higher quality of life, and reduced inflammatory factors.
Several studies suggest that while the results are so good, CKD-O may improve weight loss even if it’s not accompanied by diet and exercise strategies, here are some activities to train your executive functions.
Obese people exhibit changes in cognitive processes related to inhibitory control, working memory, thinking flexibility and central coherence.
Inhibitory control refers to a person’s ability to inhibit automatic responses and generate others through attention and reasoning.
Getting better inhibitory control involves avoiding the behavior in question and thinking about the thinking that brings us closer to it, it is about becoming aware of the thoughts themselves and analyzing them before developing the action to which we have predisposed ourselves.
In this case it is best to set an example, if we finish dinner and have an irresistible desire to eat sweets, before giving in, we must think about the content and meaning of our own thinking:
Inhibitory control training involves introducing a stage of reflection between the onset of thought and the development of action.
Working memory refers to the ability to remember what is needed to perform a specific action.
Understanding and experimentation are probably the best tools to promote memory, so it’s critical that our patients understand why each of our interventions participates in strategy development, and tests and adapts changes to the context of their own lives.
Cognitive flexibility refers to an individual’s ability to modulate their thinking and action in the face of a new, changing or unexpected situation.
To train cognitive flexibility, we will have to face the same situation with different resources, the idea is to force our brain to develop alternative strategies to achieve the same goal.
Here are some examples: going to work in different ways, changing the order of the morning routine, presenting a professional project to someone you know in our own words, meeting new people or trying to respect our usual diet in different environments (at work, at home?).
An example related to energy could work in an open energy scenario. In this case, the individual should create a specific combination of foods (e. g. fruits and dairy) without limiting the available foods.
Central coherence can be defined as the ability to provide a comprehensive and realistic view of a given situation. During the consultation, it is positive to reason aloud about conflict situations, taking into account the context and all associated ideas.
Similarly, requesting a brief summary, sometimes verbal and sometimes written, after a complex and detailed reading, can help improve the ability to develop and understand a general idea without going into detail.
In short, cognitive remediation therapy is a fundamental tool for improving the dissequencive profile of obese people and ultimately achieving optimal long-term obesity management.