A few of my friends live by the philosophy that “sleep is a waste of time”. But is it really? When most of us spend about one third of our lives asleep, surely it must play an important role?

Dr Robert Stickgold (Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard University) states “Most people think when you go to sleep the brain shuts off and then you wake up and go to work… but nothing can be further from the truth…sleep is important before learning and after [learning]“.

His research shows us how crucial it is to get 8 hours of regular sleep every night. If your brain is too tired you can’t take in information very well for several reasons. Firstly, the brains memory circuits become fatigued and secondly, you struggle to pay attention when you’re sleep deprived.

Stickgold has also found that the brain appears to do a lot when you’re asleep (e.g. connections in the brain are strengthened and memories are shuffled around the brain).

What else is the latest research in sleep medicine telling us?

Being awake for more than 24 hours straight impairs performance as much as having a blood alcohol level of 0.1% (that’s equivalent to being legally drunk!).

Some people are more resistant to the impact of doing an all nighter, however everyone begins to fall apart after two nights without sleep.

If you go without sleep for one night, you can triple your reaction time.

Rats that are totally deprived of sleep die in 17 to 20 days.

A lack of sleep is related to obesity, diabetes, immune system dysfunction and impaired judgment/productivity.

Can short power naps help us?
Apparently so. Dr Stephen Amira (Behavioural sleep specialist) states that taking a nap for 20 minutes of less before 5pm can be beneficial and help us feel more energised.

In a nutshell, you’re ability to think clearly, be happy and understand what’s going on depends on you getting enough sleep. If you want to find out more about the science of sleep, you can check out some great videos (featuring experts from Harvard University) here.

You can work so hard to study large quantities of information for an exam, but if you don’t prepare yourself mentally and physically before that exam, all that hard work can sadly go to waste.

When it comes time to take your major exams, you really have to relate to yourself as a top class athlete. You need to eat the right foods, have the right mental attitude and let your body rest when it needs to leading up to your exams. These simple things can make all the difference to your mental clarity and performance.

You may be thinking ‘this is common sense!’ but common sense isn’t so common. I see it all the time, university students drinking energy drinks like water, getting very little sleep and eating fatty convenience foods whilst cramming for their final exams. I have to admit, I’ve also done this and I don’t recommend it. It’s a recipe for disaster or at best, mediocre grades and a stressful, miserable time.

Here are my top 10 tips for taking exams:

1. Get a good nights sleep

Studies have found that if you stay awake for 21 hours straight, you have the mental capacity of someone who is legally drunk (in terms of your ability to concentrate, memorise and recall information, etc).

You can’t afford to stay awake all night studying for an exam because you just won’t be effective on the day of the exam. Make sure you get on average 8 hours of sleep a night.

2. Exercise for at least 30 minutes a day, everyday

I make myself to go to the gym for 1 hour each day during my exam period, but 30 minutes of walking, jogging, swimming, dancing, etc will be enough.

Often students stop exercising when it comes exam time because they begin to think that they don’t have enough time (”I must spend every moment studying!”). Big mistake.

Exercise helps us study more effectively for various reasons. Firstly, it’s a great way to relieve stress and anxiety. Secondly, it gets blood flowing to your brain (supplying oxygen, antioxidant and glucose) which can help you to think more clearly.

Think of daily exercise as being an investment in your final marks.

3. Drink plenty of water

Often when we can’t think clearly and have a foggy memory, it’s because our brains need to be hydrated. While studying and taking your exams, make sure you take regular sips of water.

4. Remember, your teachers want you to do well

Years ago, I started thinking that my teachers and lecturers were out to get me and would mark me down wherever they got the chance. As a result of this thinking, I became too scared to write anything in one of my first tests for law! After receiving my terrible mark, my brother said to me “Remember sis, your teachers want you to do well. They will try to give you marks wherever they can. It’s in their interest to do so”

Don’t worry about writing a perfect answer. If you’re unsure, still put it down (even if it’s in dot points). They may not give you any marks for it, but they won’t take marks off. Just remember, your teachers really are on your side (despite all evidence to the contrary).

5. Focus on what you do know rather than what you don’t know

Chances are there will always be something that you could have studied more thoroughly or don’t know so well come the day of the exam. By that stage, you can’t do much about that, so is there any point worrying about it?

You are better off focusing on the fact that you now know so much more than you did before and a large number of the exam questions you’ll be able to answer.

6. Eat a low GI, nutritious breakfast

Studies have found that students who skip breakfast experience a 20-40% reduction in thinking skills (i.e. concentration, memory and alertness). You want to eat a low GI, nutritious breakfast to feel fuller for longer, stabilise your mood and give you plenty of energy for the day.

Here are some healthy breakfast ideas:

Raw museli or porridge with nuts and chopped fruit

Wholegrain toast with a variety of toppings (e.g. baked beans, tomatoes, avocado, etc.) and a piece of fruit

An omelette made with added vegetables (i.e. onion, spinach, tomato, and mushrooms)

A fruit smoothy

7. Avoid drinking caffeine (e.g. energy drinks, coke and coffee)

Caffeine is a stimulant drug. It gives you a rush and makes you feel good in the short term, but eventually it wears off and leaves you feeling cranky and wanting more.

It’s also a diuretic, so it makes you urinate, which means you lose water, become thirsty and want to drink more soft drink.

Studies have found that when we slurp on our cup of coffee or can of coke, we are actually inducing a state of stress. Caffeine drives the adrenal glands to produce stress hormones that in turn produce the “fight or flight” response.

Why not consider gradually replacing your caffeinated beverages with good old, simple water? If you must drink something sweet, try drinking low GI apple juice with no added sugar.

8. Go straight home after the exam

How many times have you stayed back after an exam to talk to your friends about what you put for each questions? How many times have you felt anxious after doing so?

Whilst it can be reassuring to know that you wrote the same answer as your friends, if you find out that you wrote something different and you have another 4 or 5 exams to take, this may throw you off your game.

The exam is over. There’s nothing much you can do about it, so move on and focus on the next one.

9. Take a few deep breaths when you get stuck

If you come across a question you’re not sure how to answer in the exam, stop for a moment and take a few deep breathes (in for the count of 3 and out for the count of 3). If you are not sure how to answer it there and then, move on to another question.

The worst thing you can do is start to panic, because as they say ’stress makes you stupid’. You won’t be able to think clearly.

10. Dealing with writer’s cramp/elbow

I’m sure many of us are familiar with writers cramp/elbow. This can be due to holding your pen too tight. Loosen your grip or get a pen that you won’t have to press down so hard on the paper.

The reality is, even with a good pen, your elbow will start to hurt at some point if you’re taking a 3 hour exam. When it does hurt, have a rest for a few moments (yes, you have time to do this!) and stretch it out on your desk.

I hope you have found these tips helpful. If you have some techniques or strategies that work for you when preparing for exams, please share them below.

Often the thought of taking action to combat climate change can be overwhelming. People frequently tell me that it’s all too hard, they feel helpless and they don’t know where to start.

If experts such as Professor Ross Garnaut and the world’s leading scientists are however correct about climate change, then the next 2 to 3 years are critical. None of us have time to waste.

No longer can we entertain such thoughts as ‘It’s too hard’ or ‘It can’t be done’. All of us need to be in action, doing whatever we can (whether it be using public transport more often, writing to politicians or turning things off at the powerpoint) to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.

High Schools can do a great deal to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and indeed, many of them around the world are starting to do so.

South Fremantle Senior High School is a great example of a school that is taking action and aiming to go carbon neutral. Late last year, the school set a goal of a 10% reduction in energy use by the end of June. I recently interviewed the driving force behind this school’s carbon neutral initiative (Project officer, Kathy Anketell) to find out more about the exciting project and how other schools could do the same.

Q. What made the biggest difference to getting this carbon neutral program up and running at your school?

I guess the one answer is an amazing synergy, people meeting and talking together. A germ of an idea translated into a breakfast meeting a day later, more people were invited and the energy and enthusiasm happened immediately. The Principal at the time Dominic Burgio; was the one person who had the capacity to make it happen by employing a Project Officer, but only if others also embraced it.

(I have never worked in a school before and teachers work so hard, making a commitment to going carbon neutral may be beyond teacher’s time availability, so having a Project Officer to do some of the running around really helps. Surprisingly I have become cost neutral, well sort of, in the year that I have been here grants and donations have equaled my salary).

Q. What advice would you give to other schools, students and staff members who want to do something similar at their school?

Find those who share you ideals, have breakfast, form a working group, go around the doubters, get a grant for an audit and then implement the audit suggestions. The main strength of South Fremantle Senior High School’s Carbon Neutral Project is the positive spins offs of working together for a common goal while doing lots of different things. Enjoy yourself while changing your bit of the world.

Q. What have been the biggest challenges you have faced with this initiative?

Wading through the bureaucracy, lots of good ideas get lost due people running out of time or enthusiasm as ‘the system’ stalls. Getting money to implement.

Q. Did South Fremantle high meet its 10% reduction in energy use by the end of June?

No, we have implemented 8 greenhouse reduction measures; however 2 important initiatives have not progressed as quickly as I had hoped. One is the replacement of eclectic storage hot water systems with solar HWS. This was due to the change of Federal Government, the $50,000 for all schools in Australia had the criteria expanded, however this took until July this year. The second initiative was replacing lights throughout the school; this will save 50% of our lighting consumption.

Below is a mindmap (click on it to enlarge) of all the things your school can do to decrease its emissions like South Fremantle Senior High School have done. Implementing the energy savings strategies listed on the mindmap will take a team, patience and commitment, but as Kathy said it can be an enjoyable experience with various positive spin offs.

‘My dog eats better than your kids’ is a pretty bold statement to make. It’s the title of Dr Peter Dingle’s latest book on nutrition and healthy living.

My mum and I were lucky enough to bump into Dr Dingle at university today, where he told us all about his book. I have to admit when he told me the title, I found myself thinking ‘yeah, right! Catchy title Dr D, but I hardly believe your dog eats better than me!’

So I just finished reading his book and let me just say, Dr Dingle puts forth a strong argument with solid facts. I found myself thinking by the end ‘Maybe his dog does actually eat better than me?’ which was a good thing, because I know there is room for improvement. He has expanded my mind once again!

For instance, I have always eaten a lot of bread and pasta. This wasn’t a problem for me because I thought ‘hey, I’m Italian and plus, it’s wholemeal! The food pyramid tells me I need 6-11 servings of breads, rice, cereals, etc. So it’s OK!’

But then Dr Dingle tells us about the ‘food pyramid’ and how it came to be. Apparently it was established by Kellog’s (the grain industry) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the 1950s. Take a look at the bottom of the pyramid. Do you see grains? Yes, the pyramid tells us we should be eating grains the most! Dig in!

Dr Dingle however points us to the Harvard School of Public Health that states this is not correct. The Harvard School of Public Health actually provide us with another, new and improved food pyramid that is actually based on the latest and best science. Very impressive.

In summary, I have read several of Dr Dingle’s books before and thoroughly enjoyed them. When Dingle writes you can’t help by feel inspired and motivated to make positive changes in your life.

His latest book is however different to the others. It’s still upbeat and certainly motivating, but this one is not as long (it will take you about one hour to read). It’s also full of colourful, quirky illustrations that will make you smile and laugh out loud.

For years I have battled with mountains of clutter in my office and bedroom. I have been labeled ‘a mess maker’. Typical time management and organisational strategies (i.e. writing lists and prioritising) have never really worked for me (no matter how hard I have tried and believe me, I have tried hard!).

In some ways I think I was secretly proud of the fact that I was messy. After all, who would want to be clean and super organised? Wasn’t that for uptight people who had too much time on their hands? I just wasn’t inspired to live like that.

But people who were efficient and able to get things done, now they inspired me! I wanted to be like them and thankfully, David Allen’s book ‘How to get things done’ showed me how I could be and do just this - all for $29.95 (a bargain I say!).

Let me give you a picture of what my life was like before reading this book. In the picture below (click on it to enlarge), I am sitting at my desk feeling overwhelmed by the mess and all the projects in my life.

I have had enough.

‘I have too much to do! I don’t have enough time to do it all’ is something I used to frequently tell myself. I always had this sense that I had forgotten to do something, that I was running out of time.

I knew that there had to be a better way to do things and several people had told me that David Allen’s book had changed their lives dramatically.

So I set myself a challenge. I’d give myself 3 days to read his book and implement his system. I wouldn’t allow myself to be distracted by phone calls, email, university work, appointments, etc. It was just 3 days of me with my clutter and new filing system (as well as the occasional conversation with my partner to stop me from losing my mind).

The beauty about this book is David Allen takes you through implementing the process step by step. It’s like he is there by your side, holding your hand and cheering you on as you sort through your piles of papers and random clutter.

Papers, Papers Everywhere!

My biggest problem was I had folders and notebooks full of interesting articles, ideas and projects scattered all over my house. If you told me ‘Jane, go get me the notes you took while watching Al Gore’s movie’, I wouldn’t know where to look.

David Allen says you need one centralised system, that shouldn’t take you more than 1 minute to find the document you need. If it does, your system needs some work.

Mine clearly needed some work. So I got a box (David refers to it as your ‘inbox’) and started dumping everything into it. Papers, paintings and photos that no longer inspired me, books that were collecting dust, etc. What an emotional roller coaster ride this was! I felt excited and liberated as I threw away papers I no longer needed. At other times, I just felt completely overwhelmed by all my ’stuff’. ‘Why did I even get this in the first place?’, ‘What was I thinking buying all these cheap toxic textas/stationary when I already had enough?’ and ‘Is David Allen’s system actually going to help me? What if it doesn’t?’ I thought.

YouTube Inspiration

One night (when I was feeling flat after sorting through piles and piles of papers) at 12:30am, I logged onto youtube to see if there was anyone out there who had benefited from GTD. I was excited to find an American woman with purple hair who had been using the system say ‘GTD is about kicking ass!’. That was enough to keep me going.

I then got myself some files and created the following:

General reference folder: for all the articles, notes, etc that I didn’t want to throw out

Someday/Maybe folder: For all the activities and projects that I didn’t want to do now but at maybe later on in the future I’d want to do

Project folders: A bunch of manila folders for the projects I was currently working on (these were labeled with my cool, new automatic labeler)

Already, I was starting to feel clearer and more energised (even if I was starting to have obsessive dreams about filing and my partner setting the table with stationary instead of cutlery).

GTD Notebook

A big part of David Allen’s system is the GTD notebook. It’s a notebook or folder that you create that contains lists of all your ideas, projects, ‘next actions’, things your waiting for from others, etc. It’s a place where you dump everything from your mind onto, because the last thing you want is to waste your mental energy by having the same reoccurring thoughts (e.g. ‘I must remember to return my library books’, ‘Can’t forget to call Lisa’, etc.).

I made sure I bought a book I liked because I had been warned ‘If your materials look shabby, you won’t be inspired to use them’.

Much more to GTD

There’s much more to GTD than I can possibly share with you in one blog post. I mean David Allen spends close to 300 pages explaining it in his book! But don’t think it’s complex, because it’s not. David is just extremely thorough and doesn’t allow for anything to be missed.

So does GTD help? Did it help me? You bet! Thankfully my dreams are back to normal and for the first time in my life, I am in control of my papers/clutter and not my papers/clutter in control of me!

Below is a photo of my desk now.

Sure it looks clean, but it’s not about being clean. If only my camera could capture the sense of freedom and how effective and clear minded I now feel from having a system that works and makes sense.

The last few days I have been struggling to work on my honours thesis in order to complete my final year of university. The thought of reading journal articles and writing has felt like hard work.

Then this evening, I saw an eye opening documentary on SBS called ‘The Boys from Baghdad High’ (Produced/Directed: Ivan O’Mahoney and Laura Winter). Watching this beautifully made documentary put everything into perspective.

‘Girls, exams and bombings’ was the tagline for this documentary where four 17 year old young men were given video cameras to record their lives as they completed their final year of school in Baghdad, Iraq.

If you thought studying was hard here (in safe Western Australia) then perhaps studying in Iraq for even a day would do us all some good.

These young men were typical generation Yers. They were just like my Australian male friends. They liked listening to pop music, had mobile phones, surfed the internet, had girlfirends, joked around with each other, had dreams and hopes for the future, etc. The difference was they were forced to study with power cuts, to the sound of bombings and guns firing shots outside their homes, knowing their classmates/friends had been murdered and kidnapped and that they could be next. Most of their free time was spent at home as it was just too dangerous to go outside.

I can’t even begin to imagine how stressful that would be and the effect that kind of stress would have on studying for final year exams.

It was no surprise that school attendance and motivation/inspiration to study was low at the school the boys attended in Baghdad. It was also no surprise that they failed several of their final exams. But amazingly, given all the stress and trauma they experienced, most of the boys got through and graduated in the end.

This documentary was inspiring to say the least. I’ve been complaining about my honours thesis, but after seeing what these young men went though it just seems ridiculous to complain anymore.

If in need of inspiration or a new perspective on your life as a student, I recommend watching ‘The Boys from Baghdad High’. You will be deeply moved.

When was the last time someone told you to cheer up or look on the bright side? Did these words irritate you? Being told to cheer up is probably the last things you want to hear when you are feeling down. It may even make you feel worse according to some psychologists. First you feel bad about the thing that is getting you down (e.g. lost your job, pet died) and then you may feel bad because you can’t seem to cheer yourself up.

Clinical Psychologist Barbara Held argues that American culture has become obsessed with being positive and optimistic, so obsessed that some individuals now have difficulty being in the company of someone who is in a negative mood.

I would argue it’s not just America that has gone slightly extreme and obsessed with positivity. Western culture in general has gone crazy about positivity. Being positive and upbeat is what seems to be expected, and if you’re not that, then there may be something wrong with you. You may be “defective”.

Norem and her research team performed several experiments where they made defensive pessimists think like strategic optimists by raising their expectations, stopping them from mentally rehearsing possible outcomes, making them relax and cheer up (Norem & Illingworth, 2004, Norem & Illingworth, 1993, Spencer & Norem, 1996). The purpose of these experiments was to see if positive thinking and relaxation would lead to an improvement in defensive pessimists ability to function.

Interestingly, it was found that forcing defensive pessimists to think more like strategic optimists caused their performance to suffer. Norem (2001) concluded that defensive pessimism is a strategy that helps anxious individuals to confront and work through their anxious thoughts rather than deny them. Ultimately, this research on defensive pessimists illustrates that the positive thinking may do some individuals a disservice by causing their performance to suffer. Subsequently, these individuals may end up feeling worse about themselves.

So how can you tell if positive thinking may not be for you when performing difficulty tasks (e.g. preparing for a talk or a big project)? First of all, you could take Julie Norem’s simple questionnaire to workout if you are a defensive pessimist. It will take you less than a minute to do.

Ultimately, I believe both positive and negative thinking and experiences have their place and a balance of the two is needed in order to live a healthy, fulfilling life. After all, if you never confront stressful situations, how can you ever expect to grow and develop? How can you fully appreciate the wonderful experiences you have? As the famous saying goes ‘Without the bitter baby, the sweet ain’t as sweet’.

References

Held, B.S. (2002). The tyranny of the positive attitude in America: observation and speculation. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 58(9), 965-992

Norem, J.K. (2001). The positive power of negative thinking. Cambridge: Basic Books

Norem, J.K. & Illingworth, K.S.S. (2004). Mood and performance among defensive pessimists and strategic optimists. Journal of Research in Personality, 38, 351-366

Norem, J.K. & Illingworth, K.S.S. (1993). Strategy-dependant effects of reflecting on self and tasks: Some implications of optimism and defensive pessimism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65(4), 822-835

Spencer, S.M., & Norem, J.K. (1996). Reflection and distraction: Defensive pessimism, strategic optimism, and performance. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22(4), 354-365

It’s school holiday time. This means a break from running school workshops, but a pile of journal articles to read, an essay to write and an ethics application form to fill in.

Even though I give talks on study skills, I’m no different from any other student. With friends on facebook and msn, I struggle to stay focused and concentrate on the work that needs to be done.

Often it seems so much easier to ignore the pile of articles that I need to read and just pretend that they don’t exist. The only problem is that eventually all that work starts to build up and as the deadlines loom closer, it gets harder and harder to ignore the work. You begin to feel stressed. My aunty, Lidia Genovese (a clinical and counseling psychologist), told me recently ‘Stress makes you stupid Jane’.

She’s right. I can’t think properly when I get stressed. I bet you can’t either. So how can we stay focused on our work so we don’t end up stressed out and unable to do any work?

Below are 5 simple strategies you may like to test out.

1. Get rid of distractions
Have you ever tried to research or write an assignment on your computer with your email, msn or facebook open? How much did you get done? Speaking from my own personal experience, next to nothing got done. When it’s time to study, get rid of anything that may distract you (e.g. television, radio, email, chat programs and phone). Working in a clean environment will also help, as your mind will be clearer and less easily distracted by papers, rubbish, etc.

2. Motivate yourself
Ask yourself, why are you doing this study/work? What is it leading to? What interests you about the topic? How can learning this information help you to become a better person? For me, doing my honours project (on climate change and the law) will make a difference to society. It will also open up opportunities of doing a phD or becoming a psychologist. Reminding myself of these things can help get me into a focused and motivated state.

3. Move your body
If you’ve been sitting at your desk for more than 45 minutes, it’s time to get up and move your body (shake your legs, do some stretches, etc.). Often we find it hard to concentrate on our work because of a lack of blood flow.

4. Don’t eat so much
It’s virtually impossible for me to study after I’ve eaten a heavy meal. I feel tired, my senses are dulled and I usually need a power nap. If you want your mind to be sharp and clear for a study/work session, eat a light meal (free of artificial flavours and colourings).

5. Visualise
What would you feel good about doing today? Take a minute or two to visualise what you would like to achieve in your study/work session. Test it out and see if it makes a difference for you.

“You can improve your memory by 500% OR MORE!” and “Switch on your mega memory” are some of the quirky phrases written on Kevin Trudeau’s Mega Memory program package. My dad bought me this expensive package when I was 10 years old after watching Mr Trudeau on late night TV wow an audience with his ‘photographic memory’. Now, at 24 years of age, I can’t help but feel a little cynical/skeptical as I revisit the Mega Memory program knowing that Mr Trudeau has recently released a book called ‘The weight loss cure’.

Did I ever get a photographic memory from doing Mega Memory as a child? I’m afraid not. Perhaps a better question to ask is, did the program help me to improve my memory? You bet. Let’s face it, there was nothing new or particularly special about the information contained in Mega Memory. All Mr Trudeau did was package a bunch of memory techniques (that have been around for well over a century) nicely together. More importantly and impressively, he managed to get millions of people (my dad and I included) excited about learning more about the human mind and memory. He sparked curiosity in us and forced us to think about how far we could push ourselves mentally and what was possible. To be engaged in this kind of conversation as a child was priceless.

I have to hand it to Mr Trudeau, he knew a thing or two about effective learning. In lesson 1 of his program he sets out some really smart ‘ground rules’ for studying his program. These are:

Take a 10 minute break between lessons

No heavy eating before going through a lesson

No alcohol or drugs before going through a lesson

No sugar or white flour before going through a lesson

Most of us know the effect of eating too much sugar or a greasy, heavy meal before studying or working - we can become ineffective, lack concentration, have a poor memory, feel agitated, etc. Mr Trudeau’s ground rules do not and should not be limited to studying memory techniques, but applied to all areas of our lives.

He also knew about the importance of taking baby steps to slowly build confidence. One of the first memory techniques his program teaches is the peg-word mnemonic. In my opinion, it is the simplest memory technique to learn (it takes about 5 minutes to learn). I often teach students this technique in workshops for several reasons. Firstly, it helps them to memorise lists of information really easily and quickly. Secondly, it shows students how they learn information best and thirdly, it builds their confidence. Once they realise ‘Hey, this actually works! I can do this!’, they are more open to learning about other strategies that will make a difference to their studies and life.

I don’t know if I ever did improve my memory by ‘500%’. In fact, it doesn’t matter at all if I did or didn’t. As skeptical as I am of smooth, charismatic salesmen like Kevin Trudeau, I have to say that his product (Mega Memory) contained some good ideas and techniques that did inspire me as a child and continue to inspire me.

My mind is like my car. Some days I fill it up with the right fuel, keep it organised and drive it below the speed limit. But once in a while, I drive it around in a rush, get flashed by a multinova, can’t be bothered filling it up with petrol and mess begins to accumulate inside.

When I’m not being a responsible driver and/or looking after my car, life never seems to work as well. Similarly, when I’m not looking after my mind by eating the right foods that will fuel it, life especially doesn’t work.

For years I ate greasy foods on a regular basis. One night my family and I would have McDonalds, a few days later I would have Hungry Jacks for lunch and when I got tired of these fast food places, I made my way to the local fish and chip shop. It probably won’t surprise you that feeling sluggish and having poor concentration was the norm for me throughout my days at primary and high school. I only realised how abnormal this feeling was when I finally got sick of eating greasy food, started exercising regularly and switched over to a healthier, more natural diet.

Friend and University Professor Dr Peter Dingle says,

“A healthy diet can enhance your mental acuity and reduce or prevent brain decline. A functioning brain relies on healthy building blocks and a healthy fuel source. As a result, good nutrition and exercise are critical for a good memory”

So what are these “healthy fuel sources” Dr Dingle says we should be eating? Below is a list of some of them.

Plums

Oranges

Red Grapes

Blueberries , Blackberries , Cranberries , Strawberries , Raspberries

Onions

Brussels sprouts, Alfalfa sprouts

Broccoli

Cherries

Dairy products

Wheat Germ

Whole grains

Carrots

Leafy Greens

Nuts and Seeds

Corn

Potato

Public speaker/nutritionist Helen Frost says simply in her public talks that we have two basic groups of foods - live foods and dead foods. Live foods are the most natural foods (i.e. anything grown on a tree or from the ground) and these make our bodies feel happy and strong. Whereas dead foods are those that have been heavily processed and these result in sad, degenerated bodies over time. When we go shopping for groceries we should always consider selecting live foods (that’s fruits and vegetables) over dead foods (i.e. microwave dinners, frozen pizzas, white bread).

Below are some frequently asked questions on diet/nutrition by students

How many vegetables and fruits should I be having each day?
5 - 9 cups (predominantly of vegetables).

What are the best drinks to have?
Water, green tea, apple juice (with no added sugar) and herbal tea. Avoid soft drinks. Cans of soft drink contain on average 11 teaspoons of sugar, caffeine, acid, artificial colours, and preservatives (all of these ingredients are a recipe for disaster if you are going to study or take a test) and take 3 km of walking to burn off! Students should be sipping on water every 20 minutes to keep their brains hydrated. Often when we have trouble studying, it is because we simply need some water.

I heard fish is really good for you. Why?
Certain types of fish (i.e. salmon, sardines, cod and tuna) contain a fatty acid called omega 3. Studies have found omega 3 helps students to concentrate, memorise information better and combat fatigue.

I don’t like fish. What else can I eat to improve my memory and concentration? Walnuts, cabbage, broccoli, strawberries and raspberries are all excellent sources of omega 3.

Is it ok for me to drink tea or coffee when I am studying for exams?
I try to avoid drinking tea and coffee at all costs and encourage other students to do the same. Tea and coffee contain caffeine which is a stimulant drug that is likely to increase your anxiety levels and may induce insomnia. You don’t want to feel tired and stressed out studying for exams. This will result in your brain having difficulty processing and recalling information.

What about energy drinks?
These drinks are no different to drinking a strong cup of coffee. Avoid them and you’ll feel better for it.