Does eating gyudon boost motivation? Meiji University and Yoshinoya Holdings announced on October 5th the results of a joint study suggesting a potential link between lipids derived from beef and the maintenance of post-meal motivation and spontaneous activity.
The study compared cases where participants ate gyudon, butadon (pork bowl), and sukeroku sushi, and evaluated motivation, concentration, and fatigue through questionnaires. The results showed that when gyudon was consumed, compared to butadon and sukeroku sushi, the post-meal 'motivation' score was significantly higher, and a tendency for higher 'concentration' was also observed.
Differences were also observed in experiments using mice. When comparing a group given beef tallow with a group given lard, the running distance in a hamster wheel for the beef tallow group was 192.27, assuming the lard group was 100. This indicates that mice that consumed beef tallow maintained a higher level of spontaneous physical activity. Results also confirmed a reduction in anxiety-related behaviors.
The research group believes that the maintenance of spontaneous activity observed in mice may involve the brain's 'orexin system,' which is related to arousal and appetite. Going forward, they plan to investigate the mechanism of action and whether similar results can be replicated in humans.
