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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Pat Kenny Show. With Timber Living Log Cabins. Saturday and Sunday from 10am. On Newstalk. Conversation that counts.
Well, now, it's a big week, has been a big week so far for people doing exams, be it the junior cert or the leaving cert. And you wonder, how do you keep yourself fuelled up for the exams? Well, we're joined now to talk about the do's and don'ts of exam dieting and well-being. Registered dietitian and nutritionist, Sarah Keogh. Sarah, good morning. Morning.
Do you need to change anything or as you were?
Chapter 2: What should Leaving Cert students eat during exams?
To be honest, if you're kind of going along fairly OK, I wouldn't change a whole lot. It's not the time to suddenly start some sort of completely new diet in case you end up upsetting your digestive system. But there's a couple of things you can add in and a couple of things you can do that we know do support memory and concentration and the big thing, recall, when it comes to exams.
So what are they? What are these magic foods?
The most amazing thing is carbohydrate. And people have spent years giving out about poor carbohydrate foods. But we know that particularly if you have a carbohydrate based breakfast, your focus and memory and concentration is just better after that. So if you can, eating breakfast is just really important and going for a slow release carb.
So something like your bowl of porridge, your granola, your whole grain toast, something like that is really, really good to set you up for going into that exam.
Now, athletes famously use bananas. Tennis players, you often see them. Perfect. Long, long match. Could be three or four hours even. And they chomp on bananas.
And they're brilliant. What you want is the slow release carb at your breakfast and then about 20 minutes before you go into the exam, that's where you add in the sugar. And that's where something like a banana, packet of jellies, you know, those dextrose tablets you see everyone taking, you know, rid of fruit juice. So quick release sugar then close to.
And if you're able to take something into the exam, the jellies are great. Jelly babies, things like that are brilliant.
Now, the thing is, though, when you take in sugar, your body's designed to get rid of that sugar fairly quickly.
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Chapter 3: Why is it important not to change your diet drastically before exams?
Convert it. Isn't that so?
Well, it does. And that's what we want. The brain needs glucose. It really needs it rapidly. And it goes through a huge amount. And when you're actually using your brain in an exam, it's like exercising. So you want to fuel it in the same way as you say a sports person is going to fuel in the middle of a match with that.
Chapter 4: What foods can enhance memory and concentration during exams?
So that's what you're doing for the brain there.
OK, now stimulants. If you normally have a coffee in the morning, stay with it?
Oh, definitely.
And what about things like Red Bull? I'll use the trade name. Any of these energy drinks.
What we would say is that if you're not used to them, this is not the time to start giving yourself big jitters in the middle of exams. And some of them, like some of the smaller ones, have the same caffeine as one cup of coffee and some would have the same caffeine as two cups of coffee. So if you're used to that...
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Chapter 5: How do carbohydrates impact brain function for exams?
They can be helpful. And we do know that caffeine does help support the brain a little bit. But I would go with your cup of tea or cup of coffee, you know, something like that. And as I said, if you're not used to caffeine, this is not the time to start it.
Now, there are some foods that stimulate blood supply to the brain.
What are they? What we found is there's good few foods that actually increase blood flow to the brain. So blueberries are a key one for that. And there's a huge amount of research looking at the sort of cognitive effects of blueberries in terms of getting blood to the brain. And when you do that, that's improving sort of memory recall retention.
And what's really interesting is if you add cocoa to that. So there's a really couple of very interesting studies on this where they initially were looking at people kind of with dementia. And they found if they gave them blueberries and cocoa powder together as a kind of a drink, that the blood flow of the brain significantly improved and they were able to recall more things.
The memory just worked better. So that's a nice combination. How instant is that effect? So that was turning up within 30, 40 minutes in this particular study.
So it's not that you have to be preparing weeks in advance.
No, I've got a blueberry smoothie with, you know, milk and cocoa powder and a few blueberries in it in the morning. Looks like it's going to be interesting. The research is very interesting on that one. Okay.
Now, in terms of foods to avoid, I'm thinking I used to tell the story about Gabe Byrne before the Late Late Show on a Friday. He would always have egg and chips in the canteen because it was the blandest combination you could possibly imagine. And he was unlikely to become ill or indisposed during the afternoon having had egg and chips.
So, I mean, I would keep with familiar foods for the most part, you know. So sometimes, you know, if you have a bit of a funny tummy anyway and nerves can do that as well, you don't want to suddenly put in a whole lot of unfamiliar things. I wouldn't go for big spicy foods, again, unless you're very used to them.
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Chapter 6: What quick-release sugars are beneficial before an exam?
Like it's too late now for this year's Leaving Cert, but perhaps for next year, foods that you can kind of get your memory fit.
So fish. is really important. So fish oils, which would be particularly the omega-3s in fish, which are EPA and DHA, are all about memory, focus and concentration. They unfortunately say a bit late now, it takes about three months to start to have an effect with them. But that's a really good thing.
You know, if you're in fifth, you're heading into sixth year, this year, right now is the time to start eating your oily fish twice a week or taking your fish oils. One that could work straight away, there were B-complex supplements, and they can have a quicker effect
So, you know, even if you have an exam on Monday, you could start taking a B-complex today and that helps actually relax you a little bit and it improves brain function as well.
And this is something you buy in the pharmacy?
You'll just go into the local pharmacy, local health food shop, any B-complex, don't be spending a fortune on them.
The lads will all be talking about protein. I need me protein. Do you need extra protein for exam time?
Not for exams, not for exams. The nice thing about that, and I see, you know, I have two teenagers myself, and the thing with the protein is protein foods are also rich in iron and they're also rich in B vitamins. So actually, if you're increasing your protein, and particularly if you're getting nice varied sources, you tend to get really good nutrition with that as well.
Things like ginkgo biloba.
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