The acute effect of breakfast cereal consumption on inhibitory cognitive control in competitive male collegiate athlete’s with habitual breakfast skipping

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the acute effects of breakfast cereal consumption on inhibitory cognitive control in competitive male collegiate athletes with habitual breakfast skipping. Method: The study was performed in a randomized crossover design with trials scheduled 7 days apart. Forty competitive male collegiate athletes (age = 21:3 years; BMI = 19.7 kg/m2) with habitual breakfast skipping were given a ready-to-eat breakfast cereal or no breakfast cereal in two experimental and control conditions. The breakfast included high glycemic index ready-toeat breakfast (cereals and 125 ml skim milk: 200 kcal, 36 g CHO, 5 g protein, 1.5 g fat, 1 g fiber, 22 g sugars). The Stroop Interference Test was used to measure inhibitory cognitive control. Paired t-test and independent t-test were used to analyze the data at significant level of p ≤ 0.05. Results: The results suggested that reading interference tendency and naming interference tendency as an indicator of sensory motor speed test were improved significantly after breakfast consumption (p ≤ 0.05), while no significant change was found in the control condition (p ≥ 0.05). Conclusion: Breakfast consumption has a positive key role in cognitive performance for inhibitory control