What should students eat in exam season, how much sleep is enough?

Just over a month left until the 10th grade entrance exam and the high school graduation exam begin. With a large volume of assignments and high learning intensity, this is a stressful time for students. In addition to focusing on practice, the maintenance health Being good is seen as more important than ever.

In order for parents as well as students to have knowledge and skills in taking care of and keeping their children’s health during the exam season, experts nutrition According to that, besides the important role of nutrition, parents should orient their children to arrange a scientific timetable between study, rest and leisure activities.

According to TS.BS Nguyen Trong Hung, Head of Adult Nutrition Counseling Department, National Institute of Nutrition, many parents believe that “eating a lot of protein and nutrients is enough to have enough energy to study” so they try to find the right foods. The most nutritious food to nourish your children.

However, this is a misconception, because if you eat too many nutritious foods, especially meats, it will cause your child to lack fiber, lack of vitamins, but have excess nutrients and energy due to nutritional supplements. too much meat. In addition, eating a lot of meat can lead to bloating, indigestion, and nutritional imbalance.

Doctor Hung said that the process of studying for exams is stressful, the brain is active, in order to study effectively, it is necessary to add more nutrients than usual, so there is an appropriate diet every day. should eat too full, too much protein to avoid the body having to focus on digestive problems.

The meal must always ensure enough 4 groups of substances: protein, fat, starch, vitamins and minerals. Getting enough vitamins is very important. Because this is a necessary ingredient that must be included in the diet to ensure the normal metabolism of the body, especially the central nervous, cardiovascular, digestive and endocrine systems.

“Children should eat more cereals in the evening to help them feel comfortable and sleep better. Supplement with omega 3, omega 6 fatty acids found in fatty fish, in oily seeds such as pumpkin seeds, sunflower, sesame and vegetable oils. Along with that, parents should give their children enough iron-rich foods found in liver, meat, eggs, fish and green vegetables to avoid anemia leading to fatigue and drowsiness during school hours. Iron from animal sources will be absorbed better than plants. Along with that, vitamin C should be added from fruits such as grapefruit, oranges, etc. to help absorb iron well. Doctor Nguyen Trong Hung noted.

Get enough sleep, stay away from coffee

Exam preparation stress, large amount of homework, many students think that, to avoid drowsiness, reduce stress, drinking tea, coffee, energy drinks will help the body to be more alert, but in fact it is not.

BS. Nguyen Trong Hung explained, the use of stimulants to stay up at night to review for exams should be eliminated, because strong stimulants only bring temporary effects, easily cause hallucinations, not beneficial for memory. Worth mentioning, these substances also make the heart beat faster, urinate a lot, lose sleep, headache, are harmful to the brain and limit the absorption of calcium into the body. The already tired brain is forced to work, making the body more tired, lacking in clarity, affecting long-term health.

According to Dr. Hung, besides proper nutrition, rest and enough sleep are important for students to be alert enough to increase learning efficiency.

A lot of homework pressure plus anxiety will make many students think that the more they learn, the better. The constant staying up at night, not getting enough sleep will lead to the brain being stimulated to work continuously and ineffectively. Moreover, sleeping less, the body as well as the nerves are not rested, there is no condition to recover, which is very dangerous.

Therefore, students need to eliminate bad habits such as staying up too late, being lazy to exercise, which will affect brain activity.

To ensure health and absorb lessons well, it is necessary to sleep enough at least 6-7 hours/day; Should maintain the habit of napping, at least 30 minutes. At night, they try to sleep before 10 pm, should not stay up too late and in the morning can get up at 5 am to study.

Should follow the circadian rhythm, that is to sleep according to the needs, sleep as soon as possible, sleep early will wake up early. If lack of sleep, the body will expend a lot of energy, reduce the secretion of growth hormone, reduce appetite, lose appetite, slow digestion, prolong the stimulation of the cerebral cortex leading to depression of the nervous system and the whole body. That will reduce learning efficiency.

Rushing to study, cramming, staying up all night is not advisable because the body can become weak and tired, the ability to absorb the work will gradually decrease, the possibility of being “exhausted” before the exam time is very high. .

Another issue that nutritionists note is that students should spend a certain amount of time exercising and doing sports in order to balance mental activity and physical activity. Children should play gentle sports such as soccer, cycling, walking, avoid strong collision, avoid direct confrontation because it will easily cause injury, affect health and exam results.