You probably know this one, “I scream, you scream we all scream for ice cream. It is one of the most popular desserts around. The NPD Group looked into ice cream consumption and determined that about 40% of all Americans will have ice cream in any two week time frame. When you add in other frozen desserts, you have 90% of all households around the country and indulging in one of them. That is a lot of ice cream spoons being used.
Now, you have more reasons to indulge in a frozen dessert. New scientific research shows that eating the treat in the morning, say for breakfast, can increase your intelligence, according to reporting from the Frisky.
The publication did not elaborate on the reasons this research was conducted in the first place but it has a ot of people happy.
The research was conducted at Kyorin University in Tokyo by Ice Cream Enthusiast and Professor Yoshihiko Koga. Study participants were told to eat three ice cream spoons of the tasty treat immediately after they got up in the morning. After they had their treat he gave them several computer exercises to do and rated their performance.
The results showed that the people who had ice cream before completing the exercises were much better at information processing and their reaction time was greatly better. The other study participants had not eaten at all before doing the tested. To validate his findings, Koga also looked at the subjects brain waves. What he saw confirmed his suspicions. Alpha waves in the brain have been linked with better mental coordination, concentration and even relaxing. Those alpha waves were increased for the people who had consumed ice cream.
Critics of the study, including Lane More, the author of the article, note that the people who did not get to eat the ice cream, also went in with empty stomachs. Most people know that you perform better after eating than on an empty stomach. So the results of the study may not be linked to the ice cream itself.
According to the Independent, Koga also looked at temperature. He gave some of the participants ice water to see if the cause of the better reaction to being shocked awake from the cold. He found that the people who drank the water did perform a bit better than those who had nothing but the increase was not as dramatic as with the ice cream.
Koga’s specialty is psychophysiology. That is the school of psychology that is focused at the mind/body connection. In addition to doing research breakfast ice cream and intelligence, he studies the impact foods, meals and even odors have on things ranging from the aging process to stress.
Koga’s study is getting a lot of attention, as news media outlets all over the world have been running the story. It makes a lot of sense. Ice cream has been with us for a pretty long time. Some put the first ice cream in China in 3000 BC. That ice cream was probably a lot different from the concoction we all enjoy today.
What we get our ice cream spoons out for today was invested in the 17th century in Italy. This was very popular and remained well liked through the 18th century. The most popular flavors of all time are vanilla and chocolate but there were some others in the early United States. There was a time when you could get oyster flavored ice cream.
Whether or not eating the tasty treat before a big test, or other time when you need you wits about you, are not yet conclusive. What most people know is that they like the tasty treat and it makes them feel good, which may be all some people need to get out their ice cream spoons and ice cream cup and indulge a little.