Feed Your Mind
Want to boost those grades without lifting a textbook? Then clear out your fridge and give your diet an overhaul.
Did you know that by eating a tuna salad at lunch and a jacket potato for dinner you might actually be helping your brain? Yes, eating different food groups at different times of day can have a big impact on your level of concentration.
Not only that, but a healthy diet, regular exercise, enough sleep and regular mental stimulation really can help you learn and concentrate.
Stop to think of the benefits of this in times of stress: a better concentration span and improved memory are surely good things. Especially when you realise you’ve got to cram the contents of an encyclopaedia in two days. Not only do these things help your mental abilities, but research suggests doing them will actually make you happier as well.
Before we give you our tips on improving mental ability, it’s time to tell you the key factors that your brain needs to function properly. These are glucose (sugar taken from broken down carbohydrates), oxygen, blood, and water. Through a good diet and improved lifestyle, you can directly increase the provision of these things.
A balanced, healthy diet means a sensible mix of the main food groups. These are – say them with me, people - protein, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins and minerals, and fibre. Eat them all and you’re set.
However, it is thought we shouldn’t just shovel these food groups down willy nilly at whatever time we choose. For example, protein keeps blood glucose levels high, which leads to increased energy and alertness.
Carbohydrate is also a source of glucose for your body.
While both appear to be beneficial – and they are – some dieticians suggest that a more protein-based lunch is better for concentration and staying alert when feeding your brain, and that a carbohydrate-based dinner helps you to sleep better at night as carbs promote relaxation.
The most important thing to do is to try and regulate your glucose levels. Consuming things like chocolate bars and isotonic drinks may seem like the easiest solution to providing glucose for your body, but it’s only a quick fix and your glucose will come crashing down after, having an adverse effect as your body’s energy level troughs.
This is how it works: these sugars easily flood your bloodstream, which triggers your body to balance this with insulin, which in turn causes a drop in sugar level.
This drop can then result in the release of adrenal hormones that forces stored sugar levels back up, and hey presto: you’re on a sugary rollercoaster of high and low energy, irritability and poor concentration.
The foods that release glucose slowly and steadily are complex carbohydrates, like whole grain breads and crackers, potatoes with their skin, beans & legumes, brown rice, oats, and whole grain pasta.
The molecules in complex carbohydrates are long, which means it takes longer for the intestines to break them down into the simple sugars the body can use. Consequently, you have a steady source of energy rather than sugar highs and lows of artificial sugars.
That’s enough about the effects of a sensible diet. It’s time to get fit! As well as keeping you in shape, regular exercise will provide a supply of oxygen to your brain. Oxygen helps you to function effectively and stay alert.
As well as the O2 factor, exercise is also a great way to clear your head of those numbers swimming around your mind. If you can’t bear the thought of sweating it out jogging or in the gym, head to a swimming pool for some exercise that is both low impact and relaxing.
The last two factors for a happy brain are sleep and regular mental stimulation. If you’re studying seriously, then you should have the mental stimulation sorted. Which leaves sleep.
Sleep is needed to regenerate certain parts of the body, especially the brain. A lack of sleep can result in a malfunction of neurons, affecting behaviour and thought process. It is also thought, following research from Luebeck University in Germany, that your brain actually sorts information from the previous day while you are asleep to help you solve problems. Wow! Having a lie-in does have its benefits!
So there you have it: a sensible lifestyle can do wonders for your grades. If it all sounds a bit too hardcore for you, why not try changing a little bit and see how you go? Your brain will thank you for it.
To give you a head start, here are some of the best foods for boosting brain power:
Strawberries and blueberries
While all fruit and vegetables are good for your mind, strawberries and blueberries are especially beneficial. Fruit provides antioxidants to help maintain balance, coordination and memory function.
Broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower
These three wonder veg boost neurotransmitters, which pass electrical impulses between brain cells.
Eggs
Are a good source of a nutrient called choline that also helps to build neurotransmitters. See, just reading this article is improving your brain with all its intelligent jargon!
Whole grains
Supply antioxidants, B-vitamins (which is one of the best vitamins for your brain, along with vitamins A, C and E), and steady glucose.
Salmon, tuna and oily fish
Full of protein and Omega-3 fats - protein maintains nerve cell structure, while Omega-3 fats have a host of benefits. It’s used as a natural alternative to help improve concentration amongst kids with ADD, boosts your memory and your IQ and also keeps depression at bay.
Olive oil, nuts and seeds
Are all great sources of Vitamin E, which isconsidered to have a protective effect on neurons, while amino acidsprovide the body with the necessary elements for creating neurotransmitters, the brain's main chemical messengers.
Ginkgo biloba
Isn’t a food, but you can get these as a supplement and there is sufficient research to suggest it boosts blood flow and increases glucose metabolism. The brain runs on glucose but doesn’t store it, so ginkgo biloba gives that glucose production a kick-start to help your brain function better.
Water
A lack of water will affect your concentration.
Milk
Calcium is beneficial for conducting nerve impulses. Remember, kids! Cheese is also a good source of calcium.
Brain teasers
And those that aren’t so good for your IQ… sorry, we’re going to kill all your fun here…
Caffeine
No! Don’t use it to stay awake, get a good night’s kip instead.
Alcohol
Kills brain cells directly.
Nicotine
While not a food, nicotine from cigarettes constricts capillaries, which restricts blood flow to the brain. This reduces the delivery of glucose and oxygen.
Simple carbohydrates
Processed flour products (like white bread and white pasta) and sugary food are easily broken down into glucose, leading to that sugar rollercoaster.
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