Best Foods to Have During Exam Season

Focus on study can become all-consuming at exam time and nutrition might sometimes fall behind in the list of priorities. However, a healthy diet plays a vital role in achieving peak academic performance. So, here we present best foods to feed you brain during exam times which keep you in-track and help you prepare effectively.

An overall healthy diet is most important for keeping your body and brain nourished and ready to take on difficult tasks, research shows that certain foods may be especially important for brain health and promoting mental performance.

So the idea is to optimize healthy food intake through eating a range of foods from the five food groups:

1. Vegetables and legumes/beans
2. Fruit
3. Grain (cereal foods) mostly wholegrain and/or high cereal varieties
4. Lean meat and meat alternatives
5. Milk, curd, cheese and/or alternatives (mostly reduced fat)

These healthy meals and snacks suggested below are packed with nutrients that support brain function, provide a slow and sustained release of glucose and are rich in resistant starch which supports your gut microbiome and gut-brain axis.

A common mistake many make during this crucial period is to eat poorly and unhealthily. Junk food, lots of chocolate, energy drinks and crisps are often eaten in place of normal meals to “keep energy levels up”. However, this is not only harmful to your long-term health, but can also negatively affect your exam performance.

The best way to feed your brain is to eat a wide range of foods from all food groups. However, when you’re hitting the books, it can be a little tricky to put it into practice. So, we’ve come up with some easy meal-swaps to give you the best diet for studying that will get your brain humming in no time. Eating well-rounded meals most of the time will help you study better, and lead to better results, both in the short-term and the long-term. While many of the brain foods we’ve talked about have immediate results (like caffeine), the best results are the ones that show up over time, such as the slowing down of age-related cognitive decline, and the decreased likelihood of degenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s.