title: Dairy consumption and working memory performance in overweight and obese adults.
abstract: All individuals will experience some degree of cognitive impairment in their later years. Diet is one readily modifiable factor that may influence cognitive function and psychological well-being. Very little research has considered the potential role of dairy foods in modulating cognitive and psychological functions. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of a high intake of reduced fat dairy food on cognitive performance. Overweight adults with habitually low dairy intakes (< two serves/day) were recruited for a 12 month crossover dietary intervention trial and randomised to a high (four serves/day) or low (one serve/day) intake of reduced fat dairy, crossing over to the alternate diet after 6 months. Participants were tested at the end of each 6 month diet period on multiple measures of cognitive performance, including memory, information processing speed, executive function, attention and abstract reasoning. In 38 participants who completed the trial (average age=52±2 years; BMI=31.5±0.8 kg/m(2)), spatial working memory performance was marginally better following 6 months of the high dairy diet compared with the low dairy diet. Increasing the dairy intake of habitually low dairy consumers may have the potential to improve working memory.
authors.affiliation: Nutritional Physiology Research Centre, University of South Australia, G.P.O. Box 2471, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia. whige003@mymail.unisa.edu.au
authors.forename: Georgina E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Crichton
authors.forename: Karen J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: Peter R C
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Howe
authors.forename: Jonathan D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Buckley
authors.forename: Janet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bryan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D003611:Dairy Products; D004032:Diet; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000187:drug effects*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000503:physiopathology*; D050177:Overweight / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004041:Dietary Fats