So it’s exam time… There is always going to be a bit of stress with the last minute cramming. At this stage of the academic calendar, our budding young Einstein’s need to look at a few key factors to get the most out of their study time.
Although every student works differently lets ‘examine’ what can be done to help optimise the time left.
Number 1 study tip – is to make sure you are hydrated. This means sipping water through the day. Sipping will hydrate all the organs of the body including the brain.
Drinking water and brain function are integrally linked. Lack of water to the brain can cause numerous symptoms including problems with focus, memory, brain fatigue and brain fog, as well as headaches, sleep issues, anger, depression, and many more, 70 percent of your body is composed of water and every function in the body needs water, including the activities of the brain and nervous system. It’s worth noting that the average adult loses more than 2kg of water every day through sweating, breathing, and eliminating wastes.
Another exam tip – is to make sure you are getting good fats in your diet. Fats are great to help with focus and to help with memory. The best fats to take are omega-3 oils from fish, nuts, seeds and dark leafy greens, flax oil, olive oil or hemp oil. Omega 6 oils can be found in safflower oil and borage oil.
One of the best exam tips – is to manage your protein levels. This effectively means reducing your sugar intake and replacing high sugar foods with things like nuts, a handful of seeds, eating more peanut butter or almond butter. When you start cutting out simple carbohydrates like sweets, cakes and cheap chocolate the mind doesn’t tire so easily and your focus is maintained for longer. Note: it might take a couple of days to fall off the “sugar train” so you probably shouldn’t cut sugar out the week of the exams.
When you have followed these dietary tips you could also look at some vitamins. B Complex is traditionally given to help with stress and tiredness. Tulsi (also called Holy Basil) is used to help focus the mind or Rhodiola is given when the body and mind needs a little help to adapt to stress. All these vitamins have 20% off in May just click www.healthyliving.ie
