Whether you have already hit assessment time or it’s just a matter of weeks away, you will all be feeling the stress and wondering why did you leave all this work to the last minute, you definitely won’t do it next year right? Well whether we like it or not we are going to snack when the revision and work has started so why don’t we learn to snack on the right things rather than eating that whole bag of 40p sweets in one go, we’ve all been there!
Stress is a key trigger for reaching for those snacks, cortisol, a stress hormone, blocks the release of other hormones meaning we crave high fat and high sugar foods giving us far more fuel than we need for just sitting at our desks. Other than this, most of us associate food with happier times with family, therefore meaning we use food to pick us up when we are feeling low, and a typical feeling around exam period! There are loads of different foods out there that can satisfy these cravings but aren’t quite as bad as chocolate and cake, so don’t reach for the biscuit tin, try something new.
So here is a list of just a few:
- Veggies with hummus – carrot, cucumber and celery to name a few work well with hummus, and this is a much more filling way to get in your greens. I like to buy flavoured hummus as well; my personal favourite is sun dried tomato flavour.
- Frozen yoghurt covered fruit – this is such a cool way to eat some extra fruit and you can afford to pick at these all day long. Just get your favourite fruit, berries work best with this, and cover them in your chosen yoghurt flavour. Then put these into a freezer safe sandwich bag and pop them in the freezer till completely frozen, delicious!
- Flatbread crackers – these are lovely with cream cheese or your choice of different toppings, a brilliant alternative to bread!
- Roasted pumpkin or butternut squash seeds – these are definitely my go to snack in a time of need, they are gorgeous when roasted in the oven dusted with a few spices and some salt, why would you consider even throwing them away?! Plus they contain a lot of zinc, known for helping memory, and we need every ounce of help we can get at this time of year right?
- Popcorn – this is one of the healthiest snacks going even when it doesn’t feel like it, if you need to give into your sweet tooth cravings then go for the sweet cinema style popcorn, it’s sure to be a hit.
- Avocado – this is supposed to be a very good brain food as it enhances blood flow around the body, try it in salads or on crackers as mentioned before.
- Sugar – don’t completely cut out sugar, you still need it but in good forms. Try oranges and strawberries as an easy alternative and they will be sure to satisfy your craving.
- Sage – now this sounds like a very strange option doesn’t it? But try adding sage or sage oils to different meals as it’s been known to improve memory power.
- Broccoli – this is a great source of vitamin K which is great for cognitive brain function.
- Peanut butter – this may sound like an odd one but this really will help, nuts contain essential oils and count as a brain boosting snack, it works wonderfully in your porridge in the morning.