Grabbing your packet of chips while studying during exams works as a little perk to comfort you cope with the exam pressure.
As you are soaked in the books, munching on your favourite snack is a go-to way to calm your nerves and satiate your hunger cravings. But how worthwhile that choice is when your brain is overworking and you are underpaying it with mere a handful of unhealthy snacks?
A healthy eating regime can never be underrated when it comes to giving your best exam performance. Since the mental workload of the body is multiplied during exams, it is essential to take care of your brain even better so that it is not exhausted making you weary and lacking attention.
Here are a few power-packed tips to bolster your exam performance:
First things first, drink water. Plenty and plenty of it to keep you hydrated and focused.
Cut down on caffeine. A few cups are okay but excess of it causes dehydrating effect and thus it is detrimental. Rather, warm lemon tea is a good substitute to swipe with.
When night studying, don’t stuff your belly with instant noodles or chips, or cookies. Rather get some handy and nutritious snacks to satiate night hours hunger. Popcorn or steamed corn is an unbeatable option. Likewise, multigrain toast with nut spread isn’t too a bad choice either.
Don’t skip your breakfast. Oatmeal, dates, nuts, seeds, and fruits, come in as handy superfoods to gobble upon. They don’t just provide energy but keep you fuller for longer periods and your brain fueled to improve and enhance its function.
Exercise is something that is looked down upon during exams as a time run out. However, apart from bestowing physical benefits, it helps to improve blood circulation which in turn helps to improve cognitive function and memorisation skills.
As per Harvard Health Publishing, exercise boosts your memory and thinking skills both directly and indirectly. It acts directly on the body by stimulating physiological changes such as reductions in insulin resistance and inflammation, along with encouraging the production of growth factors — chemicals that affect the growth of new blood vessels in the brain, and even the abundance, survival, and overall health of new brain cells.
Hence, spending your initial minutes of the day in some stretching exercises is a good investment towards improving your exam performance.
It is fine to treat yourself with a small cookie or a piece of cake so far if you are consuming balanced meals but don’t go overboard with sugary stuff.
Always remember, sugar is an instant pleasure that has a multitude of spillovers hiding behind its back.
With these concise tips, you are good to go and trailblaze your exams!
Dr Nisma Haris
The writer is a general physician, content creator
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