Investigating the Effects of Beef Consumption on Cognitive and Brain Health

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

Conditions

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

Interventions

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.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Cattlemen's Beef Association, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff

  collaborator INDUSTRY

• University of Nebraska Lincoln

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Aron Barbey, PhD · University of Nebraska Lincoln

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

TRIPLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

19 Years

Max Age

24 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2025-09-22

Primary Completion

2026-09-30

Completion

2026-09-30

Countries

• United States

Study Locations