WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Skipping breakfast or fasting for short periods doesn't seem to affect most adults' thinking or mental performance, according to new research from the American Psychological Association.
Researchers reviewed 71 studies involving 3,484 healthy adults to see how fasting influenced memory, decision-making, and reaction time. Most participants fasted for about 12 hours, and overall, adults who fasted performed just as well on mental tests as those who had recently eaten.
The study, published in the journal Psychological Bulletin, found that fasting didn't generally cause 'brain fog' in adults. However, the researchers noted some important details. They noticed that age played a key role. While adults showed no decline in performance, children and teens did worse when they skipped meals, likely because their developing brains need a steady energy supply.
Moreover, longer fasts seemed to reduce the performance gap, possibly because the brain began using ketones for energy once glucose ran low. Still, people tended to perform slightly worse later in the day, when natural alertness dips.
The type of mental task also made a difference. When tests involved food-related images or cues, hungry participants were more easily distracted. For other kinds of tasks, they performed just as well or even a little better.
Overall, the findings suggest that intermittent fasting can be a safe and practical health approach for adults, but it should be used carefully for children or people with medical conditions.
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