The Right Grains Keep You Smart All Day

The secret of being smart all day has been found: eat the right cereals for breakfast, like whole-grain barley or rye and your blood sugar will be constant all day, as a result of a mix of low GI (glycemic index) and indigestible sugars encountered in some grains.

The research made at Lund University reveals that even people who have eaten a breakfast poor in GI displayed an improved concentration for the rest of the morning. High variations in blood sugar concentrations can lead to old-age diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular diseases. New whole-grain products with low GI could be used in these conditions but also for an improved short-term memory and mental acuity.

"It is known that a carbohydrate-rich breakfast with low GI can moderate increases in blood sugar after lunch. But my results show that low GI in combination with the right amount of so-called indigestible carbohydrates, that is, dietary fiber and resistant starch, can keep the blood-sugar level low for up to ten hours, which means until after dinner," said author Anne Nilsson, a doctoral student at the Unit for Applied Nutrition and Food Chemistry.

It also appeared that the same effect was achieved by eating the right grains the night before, barley being the best.

Nilsson tested both boiled grains and whole grains in bread, but grains ground into porridge had the weakest effect, as grinding affected the content of resistant starch, while splitting did not affect grains' quality.

The right grain could improve the symptoms of the metabolic syndrome, associated with diabetes and cardiovascular diseases and characterized by heightened concentrations of blood sugar, insulin, fats, high blood pressure and accumulation of visceral abdominal fat.

Indigestible sugars are not digested and ferment in the large intestine, with a positive effect for metabolic syndrome, like inflammation and insulin efficiency, but this also increases satiety sensation.

Anne Nilsson also studied the connection between mental acuity and blood sugar levels after meals.

Volunteers were given experimental breakfasts with low and high GI, respectively, and out before and afterwards to perform mental acuity tests. Those who had ingested low GI breakfasts could focus better and their working (short-term) memory was improved. Healthy individuals with low glucose tolerance, whose blood glucose rises more than average after eating, generally had worse performances.

"The findings indicate that people with great fluctuations in their levels of blood sugar run a greater risk of having a generally lower cognitive ability," said Nilsson.