At the start of this summer term and the last few weeks of study before the slightly overawing end of year exams, it seems apt to analyse our diets and health to ensure that we are doing the best possible to prepare mentally and physically for Week 3. Any pre-exam diet can be divided into three phases – the weeks preceding the exam block, the few days before each exam and the day that each one occurs, thus every diet at this time may contain several phases throughout the following weeks unless you are fortunate enough to only have one exam.
‘Revision foods’ should include a mixture of vitamin B, anti-oxidants, omega 3 fatty acids and complex carbohydrates. These foods have great benefits to your body, reducing stress and aiding health and should therefore form the main part of your diet throughout this term.
There are eight B vitamins, each working in conjunction with the others to improve the maintenance and replacement rate of cells, ensure healthy skin and muscles, promote cell growth, reduce cancer, and most importantly, enhance the body’s natural immune system and prevent it from becoming ill so easily. These vitamins often co-exist in the same food types, which include nuts, bananas, meat and marmite - the world’s richest source of vitamin B.
As the body exercises and is worked hard, it produces a lot of oxygen which, although necessary for our survival in small doses, can cause cell-damaging chain reactions that leads to a wide range of diseases, including cancer, shakes and heart disease in larger quantities. It is thus advisable to reduce the amount of oxygen in your body during exam stress and study by consuming plenty of anti-oxidants, the most common of which are fruits, vegetables, green tea and – here’s the excuse… dark chocolate!
Omega 3 fatty acids are a group of unsaturated fats which stimulate blood circulation and blood pressure, reducing the risk of heart disease and deep-vein thrombosis. They can also minimise the levels of depression and anxiety and thus are essential subsistence throughout this term when sitting still for long periods whilst revising can lower blood circulation and increase stress so it is important to eat a large amount of fish, eggs, lamb, milk and cheese whenever you can.
Complex carbohydrates or starchy foods, such as rice, bananas, nuts, oats, potatoes and wholemeal bread, cereals and biscuits, are the perfect source of energy for your body as they can be easily and quickly converted into blood sugars. Due to their complex nature, they provide a slower and longer release of energy into your body, helping you to have energy to keep working for long hours without needing to snack and thus ensure a high level of general well-being.
The day before an exam, it is important to get enough sleep to give your body the opportunity to replenish itself and restore it to its natural state before using vast amounts of energy to perform well the following day. It is also advisable to increase your amount of healthy fats and proteins to help build up your energy levels and reduce stress over the next 24 hours. On the day of the exam, it is wise to reduce your intake of complex carbohydrates, replacing them with proteins which are low in sugar. This aids a consistently high level of energy and overall mood throughout your exam, giving you the best chance to focus entirely on your exam rather than your body’s needs and thus enabling a much higher level of concentration.
Of all these foods, bananas and fish particularly target the cells in your brain, enabling you to think clearly, recollect information quickly and amass more information in the grey matter than your body can usually store. It is also essential to regularly drink sufficient amounts of water, and other drinks that have a low proportion of caffeine and sugar, to rehydrate your body helping it to more quickly replace cells which are destroyed during intense and often prolonged periods of stress.
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