When I set an alarm for when I need to wake up, I always base the time that I am going to wake up on one factor. And that is to give myself enough time to get ready. However, I never give myself time in the morning to eat a healthy and filling breakfast. The reason being is that I do not have the time or desire to do so and making breakfast is simply too much of a hassle (especially when you’re almost late to an 8AM). This is a common habit amongst many teenagers in high school and college. However, many people fail to realize the importance of a good breakfast and how it can affect our ability to concentrate and do well in school.

Evidence has shown that eating breakfast really does boost your brainpower and that the kind of breakfast you eat is also a very crucial component in your brain’s ability to function well. Several years ago, a study was done on a group of 4,000 elementary school students to analyze the results of eating breakfast. The students were given attention tests to measure how well their short-term memory was. To the best of their ability, the study participants were asked to repeat a specific list of numbers that were read to them out loud. Their scores were based on how many numbers they could correctly remember. The students were then asked to name as many animals they could think of in the matter of a minute, to test their verbal fluency. The results revealed that the students who had eaten breakfast had higher scores than those who did not.

However does eating a bowl of sugar-infused Cocoa Puffs mean you will score an A on a test? Not necessarily. Professor of pediatrics Terrill Bravender states that food like whole grains are the best option for maximized brainpower. Although the number of carbohydrates may be the same in both oatmeal and sugary cereal, the glycemic loads are very different. Cereals that contain a lot of sugar will initially cause a vast increase in blood-sugar levels and then a sharp decrease in the matter of two hours. Due to its slower rate of absorption, oatmeal causes a slow increase in blood sugar levels, which is just the right amount of energy to make it through the morning. A study that was conducted by psychologist Holly Taylor aimed to test how the kind of breakfast a person eats affects their brainpower. In the study, one group of children was given sweetened oatmeal for breakfast while the other group ate Captain Crunch cereal. The students were then given tasks to measure their concentration and memory. The results found that the children who ate oatmeal for breakfast did 20% better than the children who at Captain Crunch cereal.

Although these studies suggest that eating a good breakfast can improve your ability to concentrate and do better in school, researchers cannot guarantee that it will improve a student’s grades or concentration. The results of the studies could have been due to chance as well as confounding variables. Students who did not score as high as others may have gotten less sleep, which could have impaired their ability to stay mentally focused. Also, students who scored better that ate breakfast may have drank caffeine that morning. The caffeine may have contributed to their higher scores. Another confounding variable could be amphetamines. Students may have taken performance enhancers such as Adderall or Vyvanse, which would’ve helped them concentrate better. Even though correlation does not equal causation, there is a lot of evidence to support the idea that eating a healthy breakfast boosts a person’s brainpower. From now on, I will attempt to eat a good breakfast as often as I can. After all, every college student could use the increased brainpower that a simple bowl of oatmeal could provide.

Sources:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5738848