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Subscribe to RSSLeave it to Spanish researchers to discover that caffeine and glucose -- found in those longtime office favorites, coffee and doughnuts -- actually make you smarter.
In a study published in the journal Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental, researchers at the University of Barcelona discovered that the caffeine-glucose combo boosts your brain in terms of attention and memory. And here we thought that stuff was bad for us. D’oh!
Researchers tapped 72 men and women, ages 18 to 25, for their caffeine/glucose experiments which, sadly, involved neither Starbucks nor Krispy Kreme donuts. After fasting overnight, subjects received doses of water, water plus caffeine, water plus glucose, or water plus caffeine and glucose (about the same amount you’d get in two soft drinks). Then they were tested on attention, manual dexterity, visuo-spatial and frontal functions and memory via a battery of tests such as remembering a list of 15 repeated words; taking a peg from a cup and quickly inserting it into a hole; sorting cards imprinted with shapes, numbers or colors; and repeating a series of numbers forward and backward. In other words, standard staff meeting stuff.
As it turned out, the subjects’ reaction time improved in water spiked with either caffeine or glucose (glucose gave a bump to their manual dexterity, as well). But a combination of caffeine and glucose showed beneficial effects on attention and on learning and consolidation of verbal memory,; in other words, the coffee-sugar combination boosted the effects of both substances, making the test subjects’ brains more efficient.
As usual, researchers say further studies are needed, particularly with regard to investigating the “effects of caffeine and glucose, alone and in combination, with repeated doses.”
Next up: double shots!
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Leave a Comment:
i knew that
lol...throw in some chocolate and I'm a happy camper!!
In other news, whole grains and vegetables kill brain cells. More at 6.
Some of the smartest people I know are in law enforcement.
This is a surprise?
Bring it on!!!!
Harry Dresden, the wizard, likes donuts also, but you already knew that.
is THAT why cops are so smart???
LMMFAO!!!
Sugar and caffeine gives you an energy burst allowing you to think faster...I wish someone would give me a grant to conduct such ground-breaking experiments.
"via a battery of tests such as remembering a list of 15 repeated words; taking a peg from a cup and quickly inserting it into a hole; sorting cards imprinted with shapes, numbers or colors; and repeating a series of numbers forward and backward. In other words, standard staff meeting stuff."
Who does this sort of stuff at staff meetings?
you've obviously been skimping on the donuts and coffee...it was sarcasm, einstein
If that was true, cops would be really smart people.
But who would want to look like them.
This isn't working in the U.S.
Mmm...forbidden doughnut
My father drank coffee and ate donuts everyday of his adult life. He died with Parkinson's and dementia. But before that he was extremely smart.
LOL! Classic =)
I have been a healthy eater ALL ALONG
That's great unless you're diabetic and/or hypertensive, or have heart or kidney problems, all of which typically come with diabetes.
A proper dose of LEGAL medical marijuana can do the same thing, AND it doesn't contribute to atherosclerosis. PLUS, it delays the onset of Alzheimer's.
Donuts kill.
No legal in GA
Ummm... I'm pretty sure a dose of marijuana doesn't improve dexterity or clarity of thought. It just makes you THINK you're doing great and being brilliant. It has its very legitimate and good uses, but alertness and coordination are not among them.
As for those with health problems that preclude the sugar/caffeine combo, there are other options, including exercise and certain other foods.
And I now understand why that 2 p.m. Coca Cola really does help me finish my afternoon at work more effectively!
A proper dose of LEGAL medical marijuana does help skills. It also goes good w/coffee and doughnuts!
not in GA
What's this thing with Georgia?
They boost the brain??? Then explain why most police officers lack the intelligence of a 5 year old? LOL
ok I would believe this if they did the study in comparison next to people that had Milk eggs and toast for breakfast... What I read from this study is part of the group and sugar and the other part none... UHM of course the person with sugar will flourish as opposed to the "starved" one... Come on ppl if you're going to make a study and waste money then at least do it correctly.
You don't domake a study you DO a study.
It's a Spanish study. That should be enough. Caffeine and sugar as energy boosters, well yeah.
HeeHee.....Fat people are smarter? I don't need a study to tell me that caffeine, sugar and other stimulants temporarily give you a high and raise your alertness. But after a short period when the effect wears off, you are back to your dumb, non-alert self, and all awhile you are raising your blood pressure and killing yourself, not to mention obesity and heart disease.
And all this analysis from a .... jobseeker.
John, that is the most brilliant response I have seen in a long time. How long did that take you? Being a jobseeker is better than collecting unemployment for three years as Obama is proposing for you.
BTW, if you don't think caffeine and sugar raise your blood pressure, go buy a bag of chocolate covered coffee beans. Eat a few and then take your blood pressure. You will be amazed.
I'm pretty sure that you are ONLY eligible for unemployment benefits if you are (or say you are) actively seeking a job.
I also don't see why you would take an easy shot at "fat people", some of whom can't really help it and others who probably never eat donuts or drink coffee. It's totally unrelated. At least the jabs at cops are in line with stereotypes, though I still find them distasteful as well.
As for the health effects of the equivalent of two soft drinks in terms of caffeine and sugar (not acid content), I think a lot of research has been done and every other study indicates that caffeine is good for you...and the others show that it isn't. Some say it increases blood pressure, some say it improves kidney function. So...as usual (and as indicated in the article), more research is required.
You can get glucose from other sources besides unhealthy, calorie-laden doughnuts...thanks MSNBC for contributing to America's obesity epidemic.
My, aren't we all a little judgemental today. Apparently you are all trained, skilled scientists who understand all the other aspects of this research that were not reported in one very brief media article. Apparently Spanish people are somehow inferior (interestingly, they are far healthier, though...). Apparently many of you didn't catch that the specific references to doughnuts and coffee were made by the writer of the article, and not by the researchers. .... Perhaps it is useful to know that it is specifically the COMBINATION of pure glucose and caffeine that actually boosts performance.... which could perhaps lead to HEALTHIER ways to consume these substances in ways that could benefit us all WITHOUT adding in all the fat and tannins and acids and other extras that mar the current forms of delivery...?
I'm not saying this is ground-breaking stuff, but I always find it interesting that all you plumbers or accountants or economists or housewives or mechanics or whatever you all are seem to think you know so much more than a person trained for years in a specific field - and that you know this simply by reading something written by a reporter with an angle to entertain and sell stories.
They get a little sugar high, so they're smart for a 1/2 hour.
Then they crash down and become even more unproductive.
In your case 29 minuets!
Groovy... I am going with it! I will be the smartest person ever!
Lord have mercy. That's all cops need to read now. You'll never get a cop when you call now. Might as walk down to the nearest doughnut, and pull one away from his FREE coffee, and "nuts"
And Spain is a large exporter of coffee and sweets, go figure.
http://www.everyculture.com/Sa-Th/Spain.html
The midday meal ( comida ) around 2:00 P.M. is the day's principal meal, usually taken by families together at home. This follows a small breakfast ( desayuno ) of coffee or chocolate and bread or other dough products—purchased breakfast cakes, packaged cookies, or dough fritters ( churros ).
How much money was wasted on this stupid study? Anything that increases the heart rate and thus causes more blood / oxygen to be sent to the brain is going to show beneficial short term results versus someone who has been fasting.