That fast food meal full of saturated fats reduces your mind’s focus by more than 10%, according to a US university test. High saturated fat levels are found in red meat. Dairy products and oils like coconut and palm oils coming from tropical countries. Fast-food meals are usually high in saturated fat, even for vegetarian options.
Anneliese Madison, a graduate psychology student at Ohio State University, looked at data from a previous test on whether saturated fats increased tiredness and inflammation in cancer survivors.
The new test looked at a group of 51 women, divided into two groups. All the participants were given a meal with 930 calories and 60g of fat. But for one group, the meal was high in saturated fat, the other high in no-saturated fat. Five hours after eating that single meal, they were asked to perform a computerised test.
The women who ate the saturated-fat meal performed 11% worse than the women who ate the non-saturated fat meal. We already know from other tests that long-term diets high in saturated fats affect memory and thinking, but this new test shows even one meal can have an effect.
The study is published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, May 12, 2020