Let's talk about obesity. Now you may be wondering why Usman is talking about obesity.
I usually discuss education-related matters but bear with me on this.
When I first stepped foot in the beautiful grounds of Oxford University a decade ago (this week to be exact- wow time flies), I noticed something bizarre.
I saw no overweight students. None whatsoever.
Initially, this perplexed me to no end. However, I quickly formed a hypothesis.
"Smart people aren't overweight."
There I said it. You may unsubscribe now at this crude statement. Ugh!
If you are still with me, I promise this isn't a fat-shaming article. This is in fact me trying to help you get to a more enlightened state.
🧠 Observing intellectuals at Oxford & Cambridge
So as I have explained already, I noticed a distinct difference in the physical appearance of my previous schools' students and my peers at Oxford.
Where I had landed the majority of the students were finely built specimens. And if their bodies weren't well developed then they were still on the skinnier side rather than delving into the overweight territory.
Furthermore, throughout my time at Oxford I only ever met 1 obese person. Yes, that's correct ONLY ONE. I am not even sure if he attended the university, I just happened to catch a glimpse of him at the library. It is more than possible he was a visiting student.
📚 Can you name any historical figures who were obese? ... Yeah me neither.
Funnily enough, history seems to back up my observations.
Did you know the famous Thomas Edison barely ever ate?
Yes, the guy who is credited with the successful launch of the light bulb into our lives amongst countless other inventions. In fact, all of the "great" men from history were light eaters - Caeser, Napolean, Steve Jobs - all of them. Come to think of it can you name me one great man or woman from history who wasn't a light eater? I certainly can't!
If we read Edmund Moore's Biography of Thomas Edison, we see in the second paragraph of the entire book the following passage:
“From earliest youth, he had half-starved himself, faithful to the dictum of the temperance philosopher Luigi Cornaro (1467–1566) that a man should rise from the table hungry.”
Edison has been quoted “A man can’t think clearly when he’s tanking up”.
A similar edict is found in Islamic traditions:
"A human being fills no worse vessel than his stomach" - [Sunan Ibn Majah 3349]
Despite all of these observations, the obesity epidemic is on the rise faster than ever across the world.
🧪 What does Science have to say about this?
A study published in the Journal of Neurology looked at more than 9,600 subjects and found that people with obesity, as defined by body mass index and waist to hip ratio, had smaller brains, and these two factors had additive effects.
This study is not unique. Many other studies have shown similar ill effects of obesity. You can read the UCL study on obesity here.
So if there is one question I wish to leave you with, it is this:
Do you or your child aspire to greatness, and if so, why are you still indulging in that takeaway at Nandos at the expense of the brain?
As always, your comments and thoughts are welcome on the topic.
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