If there ever was a reason to add another scoop to your ice-cream bowl, this could be it.
A researcher from Tokyo’s Kyorin University is suggesting that, after performing a series of clinical trials, participants who ate ice-cream for breakfast increased their awareness and mental performance.
Essentially, Professor Yoshihiko Koga carried out these trials by asking subjects to eat ice-cream as soon as they woke up, before they were subjected to a range of mental exercises on a computer.
According to Excite News, the results showed that people who ate ice-cream for breakfast were much more mentally switched on compared to those who didn’t eat ice-cream.
However, food experts across the globe are skeptical of Professor Koga’s research, stating that perhaps the fact that these subjects merely ate breakfast, compared to those who didn’t, is the real takeaway message.
“A possible explanation [for increased alertness]… is the simple presence of consuming breakfast versus not consuming breakfast,” The Telegraph quotes Katie Barfoot, a nutritional psychology doctoral researcher at Reading University in the UK.
Foods known to boost brain power
While experts are divided on this study, here are a list of foods that have been proven to boost your brain power – no matter what time of the day they’re eaten:
• Walnuts (they prevent cognitive decline thanks to their vitamin-E count)
• Oily fish, like salmon, herring and mackerel (these varieties are packed with good-for-the-brain omega-3s)
• Tomatoes (it’s loaded with the brain-boosting antioxidant, lycopene)
• Eggs and leafy green vegetables (for their vitamin-E content)
If you want to change your diet in any way, contact your local GP or dietitian first.
