Understanding the Cognitive and Brain Health Effects of Increasing Beef Consumption in Young Adults

University of Nebraska Lincoln2 个研究点分布在 1 个国家目标入组 240 人开始时间: 2025年9月22日最近更新: 2026年5月29日

适应症

干预措施

试验速览

阶段: 不适用
状态: 招募中
发起方: University of Nebraska Lincoln
入组人数: 240
试验地点: 2
主要终点: WAIS-V

研究概览研究设计入排标准研究组 & 干预措施结局指标研究者研究点记录与标识符相似试验

研究概览

简要总结

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if eating more beef will lead to better cognition and a healthier brain in younger adults. The main questions it aims to answer are:

Does eating more beef lead to higher scores on cognitive tests and better quality of life?
Does eating more beef lead to better brain function?

Researchers will compare participants in the experimental group (participants who will eat 25 ounces of beef every week during the dietary intervention) to control participants (participants who will eat 5 ounces of beef every week during the dietary intervention).

Participants will:

Be instructed to prepare and consume ready-to-eat beef meals along with their regular diet and not eat any more beef other than what they are given
Visit the study facilities once every week to pick up ready-to-eat beef meals; and complete a brief survey every week to track their consumption of the provided beef meals, and a dietary survey every 4 weeks
Visit the study facilities before and after the 12-week of intervention period for researchers to study them

详细描述

The goal of this study is to evaluate the effects of beef consumption on cognitive and brain health in healthy younger 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.

The study will consist of two groups of participants: experimental and control. Participants from both groups will take part in a 12-week dietary intervention. Throughout the intervention, participants in the experimental group will receive 5 portions of ready-to-eat lean beef in frozen packages every week; and consume 5 portions per week. Each serving of ready-to-eat beef for the experimental group will weigh 5-ounces. Participants in the control group will also receive 5 portions of ready-to-eat lean beef in frozen packages every week; and consume 5 portions per week. Each serving of ready-to-eat beef for the control group will weigh 1-ounce. Study compliance will be evaluated through weekly surveys about beef consumption.

In addition, all 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

研究设计

研究类型: Interventional
分配方式: Randomized
干预模型: Parallel
主要目的: Basic Science
盲法: Triple (Participant, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)

入排标准

年龄范围: 19 Years 至 24 Years（Adult）
性别: All
接受健康志愿者: 是

入选标准

•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
•Lives within 75 miles of Lincoln, NE
•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
•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

排除标准

•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

研究组 & 干预措施

Experimental Group

Experimental

The experimental group will participate in the 12-week beef dietary intervention study. Participants will be provided with 5 portions of ready-to-eat beef in frozen packages per week, and consume 5 portions per week. Each portion of beef provided to this group will weigh 5 ounces.

干预措施: Ready-to-eat beef in frozen, 5-oz packages (Dietary Supplement)

Control Group

Placebo Comparator

The control group will participate in the 12-week beef dietary intervention. Participants will be provided with 5 portions of ready-to-eat beef in frozen packages per week, and consume 5 portions per week. Each portion of beef provided to this group will weigh 1 ounce.

干预措施: Ready-to-eat beef in frozen, 1-oz packages (Dietary Supplement)