Eating Ice Cream For Breakfast May Be Good For You

If your parents told you that ice cream was most definitely not a breakfast food, you might want to send this article to them.

According to new research out of Japan, it seems that having a few spoonsful of the sweet stuff could be the answer to your sluggish mornings. In a study published on Japan’s Excite News website, Kyorin University professor Yoshihiko Koga found that eating ice cream immediately after waking up can improve alertness and mental performance.

Koga compared brain activity in people who had been given ice cream in the morning and those who had not. Individuals who had eaten ice cream for breakfast displayed better reaction times and processed information better than those who hadn’t.

Further tests showed that a morning serving of this frozen treat increases high-frequency alpha waves. Great, but what does that mean? These alpha waves are associated with high levels of alertness and reduced mental irritation, the report says.

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Still not convinced? Well, the participants were tested again, but this time with a glass of ice-cold water. The results did show that the water gave higher levels of alertness and mental capacity, however, ice cream still came out on top when it came to mental stimulation, and by quite a considerable amount.

You may still be pointing to sugar as the main cause of this increase in brain power, however, contrary to popular belief – and what your parents told you – there is no such thing as a ‘sugar rush’. A study back in 1994 found that sugar doesn’t have any effect on your behavior or cognitive skills.

Of course, we’re not quite ready to accept that a spoonful of ice cream alongside our morning coffee will become the norm, but we’re sure our seven-year-old selves would be gloating.

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