Nutrition, Metabolic Disorders and Lifestyle of Aircrew

摘要

A variety of food constituents have been studied to determine their potentialinfluence on behavior. Tryptophan, tyrosine, phenylalanine, choline, caffeine, protein and carbohydrate have been administered to both humans and laboratory animals and their effects on a variety of behaviors evaluated. With the exception of caffeine, the literature on each substance is quite limited. Even so, it is apparent that when the magnitude of the behavioral effects of food constituents are compared, caffeine is the most potent. When the effects of caffeine are contrasted to those of other food constituents on an equal weight-to-weight basis (i.e., 100 mg of caffeine versus 100 mg of any other food constituent) the magnitude of caffeine's effects appear greater. Furthermore, caffeine appears to have an even greater advantage when the comparison is based on the effects produced by single servings of common foods. The choline, tryptophan or carbohydrate, etc. that is found in a single serving of any food will not have effects that are as large or consistent as the those produced by the caffeine in a typical beverage. In fact, based on the currently available literature it appears that caffeine is the only food constituent that has been shown to unequivocally affect behavior when it is administered in the doses found in common foods. Of course, future studies may demonstrate the other foods have unexpected or greater effects on behavior.