NCT06690892

Investigating the Effects of Beef Consumption on Cognitive and Brain Health

Understanding the Cognitive and Brain Health Effects of Increasing Beef Consumption in Young Adults

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 240 (estimated)
• Sponsor: University of Nebraska Lincoln · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 19 Years – 24 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if eating more beef will lead to better cognition and a healthier brain in younger adults. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Does eating more beef lead to higher scores on cognitive tests and better quality of life? * Does eating more beef lead to better brain function? Researchers will compare participants in the experimental group (participants who will eat 25 ounces of beef every week during the dietary intervention) to control participants (participants who will eat 5 ounces of beef every week during the dietary intervention). Participants will: * Be instructed to prepare and consume ready-to-eat beef meals along with their regular diet and not eat any more beef other than what they are given * Visit the study facilities once every week to pick up ready-to-eat beef meals; and complete a brief survey every week to track their consumption of the provided beef meals, and a dietary survey every 4 weeks * Visit the study facilities before and after the 12-week of intervention period for researchers to study them

Detailed description

The goal of this study is to evaluate the effects of beef consumption on cognitive and brain health in healthy younger adults. Specifically, we seek to evaluate the effects of beef consumption on measures of executive function, memory, psychological well-being, and sleep quality. Additionally, we will explore the effects of increased beef consumption on measures of brain health derived from structural and functional brain imaging. The study will consist of two groups of participants: experimental and control. Participants from both groups will take part in a 12-week dietary intervention. Throughout the intervention, participants in the experimental group will receive 5 portions of ready-to-eat lean beef in frozen packages every week; and consume 5 portions per week. Each serving of ready-to-eat beef for the experimental group will weigh 5-ounces. Participants in the control group will also receive 5 portions of ready-to-eat lean beef in frozen packages every week; and consume 5 portions per week. Each serving of ready-to-eat beef for the control group will weigh 1-ounce. Study compliance will be evaluated through weekly surveys about beef consumption. In addition, all participants will complete pre- and post-intervention assessments: * MRI scan, including structural and functional brain imaging * a comprehensive questionnaire battery evaluating cognitive and psychological measures * neuropsychological tasks * a blood draw

Conditions

• Dietary Intervention
• Dietary Proteins
• Dietary Assessment
• Cognitive Ability, General

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT	Ready-to-eat beef in frozen, 5-oz packages	The dietary intervention lasts 12 weeks for each individual. Participants in the experimental group will receive this intervention. Each participant will acquire 5 portions of ready-to eat beef in frozen packages per week, and consume 5 portions per week (1 portion of sirloin cap steak strips, 1 portion of shredded chuck roast, 1 portion of petite shoulder medallions, and 2 portions of ground beef crumbles); each portion of ready-to-eat beef in this intervention will weigh 5 ounces.
DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT	Ready-to-eat beef in frozen, 1-oz packages	The dietary intervention lasts 12 weeks for each individual. Participants in the control group will receive this intervention. Each participant will acquire 5 portions of ready-to eat beef in frozen packages per week, and consume 5 portions per week (1 portion of sirloin cap steak strips, 1 portion of shredded chuck roast, 1 portion of petite shoulder medallions, and 2 portions of ground beef crumbles); each portion of ready-to-eat beef in this intervention will weigh 1 ounce.

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-09-22
• Primary completion: 2026-09-01
• Completion: 2026-09-01
• First posted: 2024-11-15
• Last updated: 2026-02-10

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States