American researchers have discovered that a meal high in saturated fat affects the ability to concentrate, in addition to making digestion more tiring.
- Saturated fats would impact concentration and reaction time
- Tests were carried out on a meal as high in calories as a McDonald’s Big Mac and a medium fries
We know that the “tired post-prandial”, that is to say linked to the digestion, is more intense after a rich and fatty meal. More commonly known as “the post-eating slump”, this feeling of fatigue can also be accompanied by a loss of concentration according to a recent study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Attention, concentration and reaction time impaired
51 women were recruited to test the effect of a fatty diet on the ability to concentrate – the story does not say why the researchers did not include men in their sample. To do this, they took a continuous performance test (which measures sustained attention, concentration and reaction time) after eating a meal high in saturated fat, then after eating the same meal prepared with sunflower oil, low in saturated fat.
It turned out that the participants had more difficulty concentrating after eating a meal high in saturated fat. Nevertheless, the sunflower oil cooked meal, although low in saturated fat, was still high in dietary fat, the researchers note.
“Because both meals were high in fat and potentially problematic, the cognitive effect of the high saturated fat meal could be even greater when compared to a low fat meal,” analyzed Annelise Madison, PhD student in psychology at Ohio State University (USA) and lead author of the study.
Fatty acids could interact on the brain
This famous meal contained eggs, turkey sausage, biscuits and either a sauce containing 60 grams of fat, or an oil based on palmitic acid, or sunflower oil with low saturated fat content. The two meals totaled 930 calories, about the equivalent of a Double Whopper Cheese at Burger King or a McDonald’s Big Mac and a medium fries.
Although researchers can’t say for sure what happens to the brain when you eat foods high in saturated fat, Annelise Madison talks about the results of several previous studies that suggested they could increase inflammation throughout the body and eventually the brain. “It could be that fatty acids interact directly with the brain.” But more studies are needed to be sure.
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