People Who Start Their Morning With This Dessert Score Higher On Tests, Says Research
It sounds indulgent, but this sweet morning choice boosts focus and mental sharpness.
Christian Dala | Unsplash Next time your mom says you can’t eat ice cream for breakfast, you’ll probably have the mental prowess to tell her exactly why that belief is completely untrue. According to Yoshihiko Koga, a professor at Tokyo’s Kyorin University, eating ice cream first thing in the morning actually makes you smarter.
The 2016 study out of Japan — which is basically the best, most wonderful study ever created — consisted of test subjects in “clinical trials” where they were required to eat ice cream right after waking up and then did a series of mental exercises on computers.
The control group, which was, unfortunately, the group that didn’t get to eat ice cream in the most unfair study, showed slower reaction times and worse information-processing capabilities than the lucky jerks that had eaten that sweet, delicious ice cream.
Professor Koga's research found that participants who ate ice cream for breakfast showed increased high-frequency alpha waves in their brains, which are associated with improved alertness and reduced mental irritation. The cold temperature of the ice cream is believed to stimulate the brain and increase alertness, essentially giving your mind a wake-up shock similar to splashing cold water on your face
People who start their morning with ice cream score higher on tests, says research.
PeopleImages / Shutterstock
When they monitored the subjects’ brain activity post-eating ice cream, they found that there was an increase in high-frequency alpha waves.
These waves typically link to alertness and reduced mental irritation, which means you’re more awake and less angry about being awake, to begin with.
Though there was some speculation that the test subjects were more capable because they were “shocked into high levels of alertness” due to the cold temperature of the ice cream, this could not be exactly replicated with cold water. While people who only drank cold water did have smaller degrees of alertness and mental capacity, they did not compare to those who began their morning with dessert.
Professor Koga hasn’t been able to make an absolute connection between eating ice cream and increased mental abilities, and some British nutritionists argue that it may be a simple matter of whether they ate or not.
“A possible explanation is the simple presence of consuming breakfast vs. not consuming breakfast,” says Katie Barfoot, a Nutritional Psychology Doctoral Researcher. “Our brain needs glucose to function, and a high glucose meal will aid mental capacity considerably compared to a fasted brain.”
She goes on to poo-poo the study and says that the findings “don’t condone eating dessert for breakfast.” But until it’s proven one way or another, I think it’s safe to say that it’s a great argument if someone tells you to put that ice cream down in the morning. The study also found that eating ice cream activated the same "pleasure spots" of the brain that are lit up by winning money or watching our favorite things.
"This is the first time that we've been able to show that ice cream makes you happy," One of the researchers said. "Just one spoonful lights up the happy zones of the brain in clinical trials." At least science can tell us ice cream makes us happy.
Of course, this study doesn't mean you should eat ice cream every single morning or skip nutritious breakfasts altogether.
Think of this research as permission for an occasional treat rather than a daily habit. The real takeaway is that breakfast doesn't have to look the same every day, and sometimes an unconventional choice can have surprising benefits. Just balance it out with some real nutrition throughout the rest of your day.
Merethe Najjar is a professional writer, editor, and award-winning fiction author. Her articles have been featured in The Aviator Magazine, Infinite Press, Yahoo, BRIDES, and more.
