School Exams and Nutrition: Optimize Your Diet Before Tests

Once again we turn to Italy for nutrition advice. Italians may have a reputation for laziness and inefficiency, but they do go through intensive school cycles. After five years of high school, students must past the 'Esami di Maturita', or maturity exams, which cover astronomical amounts of material. Nutrition advice given to these students in preparation for the tests might serve as an eye opener for high school and college students worldwide. Before tackling your books, read this article and head for the grocery store.

Seemingly obvious advice is usually skipped over, particularly when it comes from a figure of authority, but it all comes to back to the same old tricks: eating properly and sleeping well.

Proper nutrition and sleep serve to accumulate the energy needed for studying. Tension is worse when you're working on 3 hours of sleep, and those junk food snacks are obviously not going to get you anywhere.

Dr. Luca Piretta, nutritionist in a Roman hospital, advises against munching while studying. 'The organism needs time to assimilate the meals' - says Piretta- 'an abundant breakfast, followed by balanced meals, could help surpass the physical stress'.

Where does sleep come in? As we all know, we sleep better on certain food types over others, and the night before the exams students skip over foods that are slow to digest.

Prohibited foods are: coffee, chocolate, alcoholics, canned food, potato chips and all foods that contain lots of curry, pepper, paprika or salt.

What is allowed then? Surprisingly, nutritionists give a thumbs up to pasta, rice, barley and sweet fruit of the season. These foods are sources of energy but are also soothing and calming, thus helping to sustain mental clarity.
The agricultural organization Coldiretti sustains that the foods mentioned above contain Tryptophan, an amino acid that helps synthesize the Serotonin, a neurotransmitter that stimulates relaxation.

A diet based on rice is also suggested, because it digests more easily than pasta while providing the same amount of energy. It also provides the brain with the sugar it needs for a bright cognitive performance.

Positive effects in dinner foods are also found in legumes, boiled eggs, meat, fish and fresh cheeses. Amongst vegetables, lettuce comes first, followed by red radicchio, onion and garlic, for their sedative properties.

A small pastry for dessert is allowed, because when rich in simple carbohydrates it could have a positive anti-stress action.

A glass of warm milk before bed decreases gastric acid and helps to jumpstart a cycle of elements that favor a good sleep, the same way tea with honey creates an atmosphere that relaxes the mind and readies it for the examination.

The nutritionists also suggest that male students in an examination period need 2600 calories per day, while females need about 2200.

Breakfast should contain at least ¼ of the daily energy reserve, so as to avoid the drowsiness that sometimes hits in midmorning.

Some of the above advice is plain common sense, but we all know how most of that evaporates when presented with a big bag of chips, peer pressure and lots of studying material.

Bookmark this article and check back before your midterms!