Investigating the Effects of Beef Consumption on Cognitive and Brain Health
- Conditions
- Dietary InterventionDietary ProteinsDietary AssessmentCognitive Ability, General
- Registration Number
- NCT06690892
- Lead Sponsor
- University of Nebraska Lincoln
- Brief Summary
The goal of this study is to evaluate the effects of beef consumption on cognitive and brain health in healthy young adults. Specifically, we seek to evaluate the effects of beef consumption on measures of executive function, memory, psychological well-being, and sleep quality. Additionally, we will explore the effects of increased beef consumption on measures of brain health derived from structural and functional brain imaging.
All participants will take part in a 12-week dietary intervention study. Throughout the intervention, participants will receive 5 portions of ready-to-eat beef in frozen packages each week. Each serving of ready-to-eat beef for the experimental group will weigh 5-ounces, while each serving of ready-to-eat beef for the comparison group will weigh 1-ounce. Study compliance will be evaluated through weekly surveys about beef consumption.
In addition to completing the dietary intervention, participants will complete pre- and post-intervention assessments:
* MRI scan, including structural and functional brain imaging
* a comprehensive questionnaire battery evaluating cognitive and psychological measures
* neuropsychological tasks
* a blood draw
- Detailed Description
Not available
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- RECRUITING
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- 240
- Provision of signed and dated informed consent form
- Stated willingness to comply with all study procedures and lifestyle considerations and availability for the duration of the study
- Males and females; Age 19-24
- Willingness to adhere to the ready-to-eat beef intervention regimen
- Enrolled at University of Nebraska-Lincoln during the 2024 school year
- Score between 49 and 64 out of 100 on the Healthy Eating Index
- Consume less than or equal to 1 ounce of beef per day on average prior to participating in the study
- BMI between 18.5 and 39.9
- Not pregnant or nursing
- No history of cognitive or metabolic diseases indicated by diagnosis, including neurodegenerative disease, stroke, Type 1 and 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, liver disease, kidney disease, and cancer
- No history of eating or anxiety disorders
- Low beef consumers, and be willing to adhere to the assigned ready-to-eat beef intervention regimen during the study
- Willing to discontinue dietary supplement use throughout the duration of the study, if they are consuming supplement at the time of the registration
- No known contraindication to MRI scans as determined by the MRI screening survey questions
- Current use of medications that may affect their responses to dietary intervention, such as amphetamines, antidepressants, anti-diabetic medications, laxatives, antibiotics, statins and diuretics.
- Known intolerance or allergy to beef
- Current use of nicotine products, including vaping
- Previous use of nicotine products, including vaping, within the recent 6 months at the time of pre-screening
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- PARALLEL
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method WAIS-V 12 Weeks Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, verison 5. Comprehensive assessment battery for measuring cognitive abilities
Trail Making Test 12 Weeks Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System test for sequencing and cognitive flexibility
NIH Toolbox (Dimensional Change Card Sort) 12 Weeks Test for executive function and cognitive flexibility
NIH Toolbox (Flanker) 12 Weeks test for executive functions: attention and inhibitory control
NIH Toolbox (List Sorting Working Memory Test) 12 Weeks Test for working memory
Adult Decision-Making Competence test 12 Weeks Assessment of how well adults make decisions. Subcategories include Resistance to Framing, Recognizing Social Norms, Under/Overconfidence, Applying Decision Rules, Consistency in Risk Perception, and Resistance to Sunk Costs
Cognitive Reflection Test 12 Weeks Test to measure the ability to suppress an intuitive wrong answer in favor of a more reflective correct answer
The Mindset Survey 12 Weeks an assessment to determine whether an individual has a fixed mindset or a growth mindset
Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index 12 Weeks Self-report assessment of sleep quality over the past month. The survey includes measures related to Sleep Latency, Sleep Duration, Sleep Efficiency, Sleep Disturbances, Use of Sleep Medications, Daytime Fatigue, and Sleep Quality
Attentional Network Task 12 Weeks Computerized task to measure the effects of visual and auditory cues on visual processing
UCLA Loneliness Scale 12 Weeks measure of subjective loneliness and social isolation
Short Form-36 Health Survey 12 Weeks self-report measure of health status and quality of life
Psychological Wellbeing Scale 12 Weeks the psychological wellbeing scale assesses six aspects of psychological wellbeing and happiness: Autonomy, Environmental Mastery, Personal Growth, Positive Relations with Others, Purpose in Life, Self-Acceptance
Decision Outcome Inventory 12 Weeks an assessment of outcomes of real-life decisions
Need for Cognition Scale 12 Weeks assessment of an individual's tendency to engage in and enjoy thinking or mental exertion
Ohio State Traumatic Brain Injury Identification 12 Weeks Interview-style assessment of past head injuries, including their severity and their resulting symptoms.
Symptom Checklist 90-Revised 12 Weeks self-report assessment of psychological symptoms related to the domains of somatization, obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, psychoticism
Grit 12 Weeks self-report measure of perseverance
Brief Dispositional Resilience Scale 12 Weeks a 15-item measure of psychological hardiness, covering aspects related to commitment, control, and challenge
Valence Bias Task 12 Weeks an assessment to measure an individual's tendency to interpret ambiguous stimuli as having a positive or negative valence
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Task-based functional imaging 12 Weeks MRI based measurement of brain activity while completing a cognitive control task
Naturalistic viewing functional imaging 12 Weeks MRI based measurement of brain activity while watching videos of real-life activities
Resting-state functional imaging 12 Weeks MRI based measurement of brain activity while viewing a fixation cross
Susceptibility weighted imaging 12 Weeks MRI based assessment of cerebrovascular health
Magnetic resonance elastography 12 Weeks MRI based measurement of brain stiffness and elasticity
Structural magnetic resonance imaging 12 Weeks T1- and T2-weighted imaging to visualize the structure of the brain
Diffusion tensor Imaging 12 Weeks MRI based technique to measure water diffusion along white matter structures in the brain
Trial Locations
- Locations (1)
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
🇺🇸Lincoln, Nebraska, United States