Meals, Mood and Mental Performance

Argues that consumption of lunch frequently leads to a drop in alertness and reduced ability to perform tasks involving sustained attention, with corresponding shifts in mood. These effects of lunch may be modified by the nature of the meal, characteristics of the person eating the meal and consumption of caffeinated beverages. There is less information on the effects of breakfast but what data there are show that it produces different effects from those seen after lunch. Indeed, recent research suggests that one of the most reliable effects of breakfast is to improve memory. Evening meals also require further study but, again, their effects appear to differ from those of lunch or breakfast.