If you want your kids to perform well in the upcoming exam season, ensure you take care of their physical as well as mental health. While you all must be already aware of the necessity for maintaining sound physical health during the exam season, good brain health is equally vital to promote productivity, enhance knowledge absorption, and improve information retention.
While there are numerous ways to keep a check on children’s overall health for exam season, giving them the right food is of utmost importance. To make it easier for parents, we at Excelsior American School, ranked among the top schools in Gurgaon, have compiled here a list of the best superfoods that you must include in your kid’s diet during the exam season. It will significantly help them in performing better in their exams. So, let’s quickly go through the list of superfoods shared below.
- Berries
Rich in various compounds, berries are excellent for enhancing brain health and improving academic performance. Although all berries are great, you can choose strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and any other locally available berries for the best results. These berries are high in flavonoid compounds, which are considered great for improving overall mental performance.
Whether you give your kids a berry smoothie or raw berries, they will help protect them against inflammation by increasing the blood flow to their brain. Berries also improve the brain’s signaling pathways associated with cellular processes and nerve cell production, eventually assisting in learning and improved memory.
- Dark Chocolate & Cocoa Products
We at Excelsior American School understand that just like adults, even kids might want to eat delicious food during stressful times and not necessarily healthy options. But what if we tell you there are items that are both healthy and tasty? Well, dark chocolate and cocoa products contain high amounts of flavonoid, which is good for brain health. High-flavonoid items like cocoa products and dark chocolate can also help improve insulin sensitivity, which is a reason behind enhanced brain function.
What qualifies dark chocolate and cocoa products as superfoods is their ability to fight mental fatigue, promote better memory, and increase blood flow to the brain. All these benefits collectively make it easier to perform mental tasks, benefiting children. However, we recommend giving these items in moderation for the best results.
- Nuts
The most popular superfoods, nuts, are an all-time favorite of parents and children. Even a handful of nuts can give your kids the right amount of fiber, healthy fat, and protein. Keeping nuts as a snack can benefit their brain health if your kids study till the wee hours for exam preparation. Peanuts, almonds, pistachios, walnuts, cashews, and hazelnuts are the top options.
If you want to improve your kid’s mental status/health, irrespective of the exam season, start giving them at least five nuts every day. When given in appropriate quantity, nuts can help keep your children fuelled for long study sessions and reduce their mental exhaustion. They can even help improve certain brain functions.
- Citrus Fruits
We at Excelsior American School, one of the top schools in Gurgaon, have always taken our students’ well-being seriously. Hence, to help them prepare better during exam season, we recommend parents give them more citrus fruits for better preparation. Citrus fruits are known to enhance learning and memory abilities, enabling kids to study and perform better during exams. Like berries, citrus fruits have plenty of flavonoids, like rutin, hesperidin, quercetin, naringin, etc. Thus, you can give any citrusy fruit to kids, like grapefruits, oranges, pomelo, lemon, and others, and they are sure to experience their benefits.
You can give citrus fruits in raw form or make fresh juices to keep kids hydrated. They can effectively ward off mental decline, protect nerve cells from injury, and enhance memory. If the exam duration is spread throughout a week or more, you can keep alternating between fresh citrusy juices or whole citrus fruits.
Conclusion
Food always plays an essential role in shaping our physical health and influences our brain health. This makes it important for parents to pay special attention to their kid’s food choices during exam season. This is especially important because exams are often accompanied by stress and anxiety. Eating the right food can help them effectively tackle it.
You can stick to the superfoods mentioned in this article to keep your kids productive and stress-free during exams. To enhance their performance further, ensure your kids avoid delving into junk food, fried food, sweets, pre-packaged food, etc. Excessive salty food items and overconsumption of caffeine are also not recommended.
In short, the mantra lies in feeding the right food to kids and maintaining a positive and encouraging home environment. Trust us; this would be the perfect aid you can give your kids for the exam season.
