Consumption of Iron-Biofortified Beans Positively Affects Cognitive Performance in 18- to 27-Year-Old Rwandan Female College Students in an 18-Week Randomized Controlled Efficacy Trial

Background: Evidence shows that iron deficiency in adulthood may affect cognitive performance, possibly by disrupting neurotransmitter regulation or brain energy metabolism. Women of reproductive age (WRA) are among those who are most vulnerable to iron deficiency; however, they have been largely ig...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Murray-Kolb, Laura E., Wenger, Michael J., Scott, Samuel P., Rhoten, Stephanie E., Lung'aho, Mercy G., Haas, Jere D.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Elsevier 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/88241
_version_ 1855534075701362688
author Murray-Kolb, Laura E.
Wenger, Michael J.
Scott, Samuel P.
Rhoten, Stephanie E.
Lung'aho, Mercy G.
Haas, Jere D.
author_browse Haas, Jere D.
Lung'aho, Mercy G.
Murray-Kolb, Laura E.
Rhoten, Stephanie E.
Scott, Samuel P.
Wenger, Michael J.
author_facet Murray-Kolb, Laura E.
Wenger, Michael J.
Scott, Samuel P.
Rhoten, Stephanie E.
Lung'aho, Mercy G.
Haas, Jere D.
author_sort Murray-Kolb, Laura E.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Background: Evidence shows that iron deficiency in adulthood may affect cognitive performance, possibly by disrupting neurotransmitter regulation or brain energy metabolism. Women of reproductive age (WRA) are among those who are most vulnerable to iron deficiency; however, they have been largely ignored in the literature relating iron status to cognition. Objective: Our aim was to determine the efficacy of iron-biofortified beans in improving cognition in WRA compared with control beans. Methods: A double-blind, randomized intervention study was conducted in 150 women aged 18–27 y with low iron status (ferritin <20 μg/L). Women were randomly assigned to consume iron-biofortified beans (86.1 ppm iron) or control beans (50.1 ppm iron) daily for 18 wk. Iron status was assessed based on hemoglobin, ferritin, transferrin receptor, and body iron values and on cognitive performance on 5 computerized tasks at baseline and endline. Results: Groups did not differ on any variables at baseline. Per protocol analyses revealed that consumption of the biofortified beans resulted in a 17% larger improvement in the speed of spatial selective attention; a nearly 7-fold larger improvement in the speed, a 68% greater improvement in the efficiency, and a >2-fold greater improvement in the specificity of memory retrieval; and a >2-fold larger improvement in the speed and a >3-fold larger improvement in the efficiency of memory search—all of which are relative to consumption of the control beans (P < 0.01 for all comparisons). Conclusions: Cognitive performance is sensitive to iron status, and consumption of iron-biofortified beans for 18 wk improved cognitive performance, especially the efficiency of search and the speed of retrieval on memory tasks, in young adult women.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace88241
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2017
publishDateRange 2017
publishDateSort 2017
publisher Elsevier
publisherStr Elsevier
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace882412025-03-13T09:44:52Z Consumption of Iron-Biofortified Beans Positively Affects Cognitive Performance in 18- to 27-Year-Old Rwandan Female College Students in an 18-Week Randomized Controlled Efficacy Trial Murray-Kolb, Laura E. Wenger, Michael J. Scott, Samuel P. Rhoten, Stephanie E. Lung'aho, Mercy G. Haas, Jere D. beans food enrichment iron malnutrition nutrient deficiencies women of reproductive age enriquecimiento de los alimentos malnutrición deficiencias nutritivas Background: Evidence shows that iron deficiency in adulthood may affect cognitive performance, possibly by disrupting neurotransmitter regulation or brain energy metabolism. Women of reproductive age (WRA) are among those who are most vulnerable to iron deficiency; however, they have been largely ignored in the literature relating iron status to cognition. Objective: Our aim was to determine the efficacy of iron-biofortified beans in improving cognition in WRA compared with control beans. Methods: A double-blind, randomized intervention study was conducted in 150 women aged 18–27 y with low iron status (ferritin <20 μg/L). Women were randomly assigned to consume iron-biofortified beans (86.1 ppm iron) or control beans (50.1 ppm iron) daily for 18 wk. Iron status was assessed based on hemoglobin, ferritin, transferrin receptor, and body iron values and on cognitive performance on 5 computerized tasks at baseline and endline. Results: Groups did not differ on any variables at baseline. Per protocol analyses revealed that consumption of the biofortified beans resulted in a 17% larger improvement in the speed of spatial selective attention; a nearly 7-fold larger improvement in the speed, a 68% greater improvement in the efficiency, and a >2-fold greater improvement in the specificity of memory retrieval; and a >2-fold larger improvement in the speed and a >3-fold larger improvement in the efficiency of memory search—all of which are relative to consumption of the control beans (P < 0.01 for all comparisons). Conclusions: Cognitive performance is sensitive to iron status, and consumption of iron-biofortified beans for 18 wk improved cognitive performance, especially the efficiency of search and the speed of retrieval on memory tasks, in young adult women. 2017-11 2017-10-10T15:47:32Z 2017-10-10T15:47:32Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/88241 en Limited Access Elsevier Murray-Kolb, Laura E.; Wenger, Michael J.; Scott, Samuel P.; Rhoten, Stephanie E.; Lungaho, Mercy G.; Haas, Jere D.. 2017. Consumption of Iron-Biofortified Beans Positively Affects Cognitive Performance in 18- to 27-Year-Old Rwandan Female College Students in an 18-Week Randomized Controlled Efficacy Trial. The Journal of Nutrition . 147(11): 2109-2117.
spellingShingle beans
food enrichment
iron
malnutrition
nutrient deficiencies
women of reproductive age
enriquecimiento de los alimentos
malnutrición
deficiencias nutritivas
Murray-Kolb, Laura E.
Wenger, Michael J.
Scott, Samuel P.
Rhoten, Stephanie E.
Lung'aho, Mercy G.
Haas, Jere D.
Consumption of Iron-Biofortified Beans Positively Affects Cognitive Performance in 18- to 27-Year-Old Rwandan Female College Students in an 18-Week Randomized Controlled Efficacy Trial
title Consumption of Iron-Biofortified Beans Positively Affects Cognitive Performance in 18- to 27-Year-Old Rwandan Female College Students in an 18-Week Randomized Controlled Efficacy Trial
title_full Consumption of Iron-Biofortified Beans Positively Affects Cognitive Performance in 18- to 27-Year-Old Rwandan Female College Students in an 18-Week Randomized Controlled Efficacy Trial
title_fullStr Consumption of Iron-Biofortified Beans Positively Affects Cognitive Performance in 18- to 27-Year-Old Rwandan Female College Students in an 18-Week Randomized Controlled Efficacy Trial
title_full_unstemmed Consumption of Iron-Biofortified Beans Positively Affects Cognitive Performance in 18- to 27-Year-Old Rwandan Female College Students in an 18-Week Randomized Controlled Efficacy Trial
title_short Consumption of Iron-Biofortified Beans Positively Affects Cognitive Performance in 18- to 27-Year-Old Rwandan Female College Students in an 18-Week Randomized Controlled Efficacy Trial
title_sort consumption of iron biofortified beans positively affects cognitive performance in 18 to 27 year old rwandan female college students in an 18 week randomized controlled efficacy trial
topic beans
food enrichment
iron
malnutrition
nutrient deficiencies
women of reproductive age
enriquecimiento de los alimentos
malnutrición
deficiencias nutritivas
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/88241
work_keys_str_mv AT murraykolblaurae consumptionofironbiofortifiedbeanspositivelyaffectscognitiveperformancein18to27yearoldrwandanfemalecollegestudentsinan18weekrandomizedcontrolledefficacytrial
AT wengermichaelj consumptionofironbiofortifiedbeanspositivelyaffectscognitiveperformancein18to27yearoldrwandanfemalecollegestudentsinan18weekrandomizedcontrolledefficacytrial
AT scottsamuelp consumptionofironbiofortifiedbeanspositivelyaffectscognitiveperformancein18to27yearoldrwandanfemalecollegestudentsinan18weekrandomizedcontrolledefficacytrial
AT rhotenstephaniee consumptionofironbiofortifiedbeanspositivelyaffectscognitiveperformancein18to27yearoldrwandanfemalecollegestudentsinan18weekrandomizedcontrolledefficacytrial
AT lungahomercyg consumptionofironbiofortifiedbeanspositivelyaffectscognitiveperformancein18to27yearoldrwandanfemalecollegestudentsinan18weekrandomizedcontrolledefficacytrial
AT haasjered consumptionofironbiofortifiedbeanspositivelyaffectscognitiveperformancein18to27yearoldrwandanfemalecollegestudentsinan18weekrandomizedcontrolledefficacytrial