Avoid Late-Day Letdown

If you're trying to meet an afternoon deadline, make sure you take the time to eat lunch.

A recent study revealed that hypoglycemia, a low blood sugar condition that can develop when a person doesn't eat enough, may shorten the attention span temporarily. In the study, people experiencing hypoglycemia had shorter attention spans and processed information more slowly than they did when their blood sugar levels were normal.

Hypoglycemia occurs when blood levels of glucose, the body's main fuel, drop too low to sustain the body's activities. Hypoglycemia can occur as a complication of diabetes, or result when a person eats too little food or exercises too strenuously. However, eating just a small amount of food can reverse hypoglycemia.

Reference

Acute hypoglycemia in humans causes attentional dysfunction while nonverbal intelligence is preserved. McAulay, V., Deary, I. J., Ferguson, S. C., Frier, B. M., Diabetes Care 2001 Oct;24(10):1745-1750.