Low-carb may improve focus, attention

Researchers had 19 women choose either a low-calorie, balanced diet recommended by the American Dietetic Association; or a low-carb diet in which they cut out carbohydrates completely for a week and then gradually reintroduced them to their diets.

The women who chose the low-carb diet fared worse on tests of their memory during the first week of the diet when no carbohydrates were allowed. Once they started eating carbs again, the memory differences between the two groups disappeared.

After the first week, the low-carb group performed better on a test of sustained attention than the ADA group.

The study is in the February issue of the journal 'Appetite.'

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