exam nerves

Exams are an anxious and nervous time, not only for students but also for parents.
To navigate through the exams with flying colors, you need to work hard and burn the midnight oil. But what you also need is to focus on your eating habits, sleep patterns, and physical and mental state. If you’re taking an exam or your son or daughter is taking tests, it’s important to make sure they’re eating well and that their brains are getting a constant supply of energy. The better the fuel your brain receives, the better you will study. So don’t let good nutrition slide down your priority list and make a nutrition plan a vital part of your curriculum.

Different foods break down in different ways and have different effects on the body. How often you eat is just as important as what you eat. Find below some simple nutrition tips to eat right, be more mindful, and navigate through the exam blues.

Here are 10 tips for eating well during exams:

1. Make sure you meet daily vitamin and mineral requirements with a balanced diet, including at least 50-60% of your calories from complex carbohydrates (whole grains), 20-30% from good lean protein (curd , eggs, fish, sprouts) and the rest of good fats (nuts, olive oil).

2. The intake of an adequate amount of iron and B vitamins is important to maintain the physical and mental energy necessary to study well. Foods that contain iron include eggs, whole grains (jowar and ragi), rajmah, sesame seeds (til seeds), and spinach. Foods that contain vitamin B include whole grains, wheat germ, eggs, soy products, and nuts.

3. When you head to the library, pack whole grain foods like apples, bananas, almonds, carrot sticks, or dried apricots. An orange contains not only vitamin C, but also fiber, phytochemicals, beta carotene and other minerals, so it cannot be replaced with a pill.

4. Eat at regular intervals. Eating after every 2-3 hours helps keep energy and nutrient levels more stable, curbing the temptation of empty-calorie snacks and improving your worry.

5. Copious meals keep spinning… in the stomach. He may find that eating the standard three large meals a day slows him down mentally and physically. Therefore, it is advisable to consider 5 or 6 well-balanced and energetic snacks, such as a toast of wheat bread spread with peanut butter, curd with sprouted beans or a piece of cheese with fruits.

6. Never skip meals, especially breakfast: While there is a lot of talk about the importance of eating breakfast to fuel your energy stores, the right breakfast choices are less well known. Coffee and a burger or donut just don’t cut it. The idea is to get some protein, calcium, fiber and a fruit or vegetable. So a bowl of cereal with milk and a piece of fruit would do the trick. Or try a wheat bread sandwich with scrambled eggs or cottage cheese.

7. Go crazy. Fruit ranks high among the best options to eat or among snacks for the brain. Fruits like oranges, strawberries, apples, bananas, pears, and cherimoyas get a lot of attention because they contain powerful antioxidants and other nutrients. The presence of natural sugars in fruit offers clean energy, so you won’t experience the blood sugar crashes and fluctuations that follow consuming refined sugar.

8. Choose brightly colored and green vegetables. Not all vegetables are the same. The darker the color, the higher the concentration of nutrients. For example, carrots and spinach have more to offer the brain than cabbage or cauliflower. Other great vegetable options include tomatoes, beets, bell peppers, broccoli, and sweet potatoes.

9. Smart Snacks Can Improve Studying: Smart snacks will help you retain more. Try to include two food groups in your snacks to balance nutrients and keep your blood sugar stable. Some examples of smart snacks are banana with peanut butter, a couple of idlis with sambhar, paranthas stuffed with curd, fruit juices or a cup of curd with fruits. Gather simple recipes for nutritious foods. It is easy to feed the brain well. You don’t have to be a chef or spend hours in the kitchen to produce brain-healthy recipes.

10. Stay well hydrated. Choose your drinks wisely by keeping cups of coffee or cans of cola to a minimum. Since too much caffeine can make you jittery, try to drink no more than a couple cups a day and replace with beverages of choice like buttermilk, fruit juices, lime water, milk shakes, or green tea. Plain water (at least 8-10 glasses a day) is still the best way to stay rehydrated.

I hope you can follow the guidelines and eat well during the exams.

Good luck!