When you wake up in the morning, what’s the first thing you consume? A cup of coffee? A plate of scrambled eggs? Try ice-cream, if you want higher alertness and “better information-processing capabilities,” the best thing to eat when you get out of bed might be a bowl of ice cream.
Most parents would consider it a crime to give a child ice cream for breakfast. But they might rethink allowing their kids to have a scoop of the cold, sweet treat first thing in the morning, if they knew it could make them smarter. Although an early morning sugar rush may be parents and teacher worst fears, a new study recently found eating ice cream first thing in the morning can actually be beneficial for the brain. Eating ice cream right after waking up can result in improved instances of alertness and mental performance.
The study, which was published on Japan’s Excite News website Tuesday, compared participant’s brain activity in people who had been given ice cream immediately after waking up with those who had not eaten ice cream. Koga found that people who had consumed ice cream for breakfast showed better reaction time and were able to process information better than those who did not have the ice cream. Further tests of brain activity also showed that the people who had ice cream first thing in the morning had an increase in high-frequency alpha waves, which are associated with higher levels of alertness and can reduce mental irritation.
Subjects were tested a second time, during which they were given cold water instead of ice cream immediately after waking up. Although the results from that particular test did show higher levels of alertness and mental capacity, people who had ice cream for breakfast showed significantly higher mental stimulation.
Staff Contributor
Rabia Arshad
