Don’t let your kids skip their broccoli ever again
Most children would rather skip their broccoli, but this might be detrimental to them. A new study shows that eating broccoli can improve their academic performance, as Daily Mail reports.
A specific pigment, lutein, that can be found in broccoli, leafy greens and egg yolks has been linked to a better overall brain health, especially during exams. The study showed that high lutein levels helped kids perform tasks better and easier, regardless of their IQ. The more lutein the body has, the better the eye health of the kid is.
For the study, researchers at the University of Illinois observed 50 children aged eight to 10 years old. The kids were asked to do a cognitive task, and those with higher levels of lutein in their body performed better, without brain spikes that are associated with a person tapping into their brain for additional help to complete a task.
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“In this case, it appears that children with more lutein in the eye had higher performance and needed less cognitive engagement to accurately perform the task,” researcher Anne Walk, a neuroscientist at Illinois, said.
The second test involved eight-year-old and nine-year-old children. Despite any other performance factors, those with higher lutein levels performed better on standardized academic tests than those with lower levels.
“All these factors—the physical measures of fitness, IQ, socioeconomic status, body mass index and the amount of lutein in the children’s eyes—together explain about half of the variability achievement among participants,” researcher professor Naiman Khan said. “If you take lutein out of the equation, your ability to predict a child’s performance becomes less accurate.”
Lutein might not be the sole factor responsible for the change, but it provides a start in learning of the pigment’s role in cognitive development. “In the United States and much of the rest of the world, children and adults often fail to meet the recommended daily intakes of foods like fruits and vegetables,” Khan added. “We often focus on how diet affects childhood obesity, but we haven’t really studied how it can affect cognition or achievement in childhood.”
Eating broccoli not only helps kids with their cognitive skills, but it also prevents cancer, reduces allergic reactions, contributes to bone and heart health, detoxifies the body and is a good antioxidant, according to Times of India.
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