Are you considering or doing intermittent fasting for weight management, but worried about the effects on the brain?
Most of us grew up thinking that “breakfast was the most important meal of the day” for functioning mentally–and yet, here we are skipping it!
You certainly don’t want to worsen your attention span while slimming your waistline.
Good news!
There was a study that just came out about the effects of fasting on the brain, and FOR ADULTS, it doesn’t seem to affect how you think.
The mental performance tasks were the same for non-fasted! BUT FOR CHILDREN AND TEENS it does matter! They did worse on tests when they skipped meals. Fasting somewhat interrupts the brain’s energy supply, and kids and teens feel it more.
This reinforces longstanding advice: for children and teens, the old saying is right (if you want them to do well in school!): breakfast IS the most important meal of the day!