Turn the Brain On with Breakfast

Lesson number one: breakfast is the food of champions — not just athletic stars, but academic ones too.

You need to eat before class to have the energy to stay alert and thinking throughout the morning. Breakfast-skippers often are tired and “unable to keep their heads up” by 11:00.

But breakfast is more than just a morning energy boost. According to the Children’s Nutrition Research Center (CNRC) at Baylor College of Medicine, eating breakfast can improve memory, grades, and attendance. Breakfast eaters are also more likely to meet the daily recommendations for most vitamins and minerals– shown to affect learning, recall, concentration and enhance test-taking.

For a breakfast that delivers energy along with essential vitamins and minerals, avoid high-sugar cereals and high-fat foods like toaster pastries. Go for something that delivers a good mix of carbohydrates, fiber, quality protein, and good oils.

Studies have shown that consumption of a nutritious breakfast results in:

• improved attention in late morning task performance
• quicker and more accurate retrieval of information (i.e. working memory)
• fewer errors made in problem solving activities
• better concentration and ability to perform complex tasks

Top reasons to eat breakfast

1. Breakfast restores energy levels after a long time of not eating.
2. It is extremely difficult to get all of your necessary daily nutrients without breakfast.
3. Adults who skip breakfast are less mentally and physically efficient for longer periods during the day.
4. People who eat breakfast are more successful at losing weight and sticking to a diet. It raises metabolism by as much as 10 percent.
5. People who eat breakfast regularly are more likely to rate their health as “excellent” or “good.”
6. Eating breakfast has been shown to increase concentration. Missing it increases forgetfulness.
7. Eating a bigger meal in the morning or at noon, and a smaller meal at night optimizes daily energy levels.

Building a balanced breakfast

Most nutritionists agree that a good breakfast contains the following ingredients:

• Protein, i.e., from a quality plant source, meat, or eggs
• At least one fruit and/or vegetable
• At least one serving of fiber

If this sounds like a tall order, it’s not.

Short on time in the morning?

Late-night studying?

The LifeTime Life’s Basics powdered meal replacement (available from Well Balanced) is an ideal food for students that need excellent nutrition quickly. It’s extremely convenient and goes wherever you go to provide great-tasting, long-lasting, quality nutrition and mental fuel. Life’s Basics mixes in liquids in seconds and has super high quality vitamins, minerals, plant protein, healthy fiber, and Omega 3, 6, and 9 fatty acids. It’s optimum brain fuel for breakfast, for late-night schoolwork, or for the hour before a test, to supply important test-taking nutrients.

Life’s Basics comes in SuperFruits, SuperGreens, or Chocolate. A large, two-scoop serving provides 24 grams of easy-to-digest plant protein that costs just $2-$2.50 each. That’s as much protein as a quarter pounder of beef or a cup of cottage cheese, but with way more nutrition. And it’s also only 130 calories. It’s an excellent way to keep off the ‘freshman 15’, or college spread, and keep away those cravings for junk food.

Feed the Brain!

The brain needs to be fed. Glucose is the fuel that keeps the brain working. Researchers have found that learning tasks quickly depletes the brain’s stored glucose, and healthy, quality foods are required to replenish it.

Sugar is one source of glucose, but it’s not a good one. With high-sugar foods it is easy to consume too much glucose, which will impair rather than enhance brain function. Chocolate bars and high-fat treats are especially poor choices because processed fats slows down the energizing effects of glucose. Plus, sugar carries loads of calories (which contributes to obesity) while robbing the body of important nutrient reserves.

The best brain-boosting glucose sources include:

• Whole fruit — high fiber choices such as apples, pears, peaches, and plums are best
• Raw, steamed or grilled vegetables including spinach, lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, onion, or mushrooms
• Seeds like hemp and chia, raw nuts, potatoes, legumes, beans, and whole grain products –with rice preferred over wheat.

Junk food, junk brain

In contrast to the healthy effects of diets that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids and good oils, diets with high contents of trans fats, animal fats, and processed oils adversely affect cognition, studies indicate.

“Junk food” and fast food negatively affect the brain’s synapses.

Emerging research indicates that when the effects of a quality diet on the brain are combined with the effects from exercise and a good night’s sleep, you can strengthen the brain’s synapses and provide multiple cognitive benefits.

Exercise for the Mind

When it comes to boosting school performance, smart nutrition has a partner: physical fitness. The California Department of Education has found that students who are physically fit are more likely to have higher test scores.

The reasons why lead us back to the brain. The part of the brain that processes movement is the same part that processes learning– specifically memory, language, attention, spatial perception, and nonverbal cues.

To make sure you’re getting the exercise your body and mind needs, make active after-school plans.

When you’re studying for tests and finals, good nutrition often slides way down on the priority list. It’s easy to get into the habit of downing coffee or soda, and chowing on chips or take-out pizza because you don’t want to waste time on food preparation. But, actually, good nutrition should be part of your study plan because it’s going to help you ace those tests. The better the fuel your brain gets, the better you’ll study and perform on tests.

Here are 7 tips for eating right during exams:

1. How do I eat smarter? Eat unprocessed, natural foods to help boost your brain by providing the nutrients it needs. Get them from whole fruits, veggies, plants (beans and whole grains), lean animal proteins, and good, cold-pressed oils that feed the brain.
2. Eat at regular intervals. Eating regular meals helps keep nutrient and energy levels more stable, curbing the temptation of empty-calorie snacks in the vending machine.
3. Big meals keep on turning … in your stomach. You might find that eating the standard three-big-meals-a-day slows you down mentally and physically. Consider 5 or 6 well-balanced, smaller meals, like toast spread with raw almond butter or tuna, or celery sticks with hummus.
4. Meet breakfast, your new study buddy. The idea is to get some protein, fiber and a piece of fruit or a vegetable in there. Going bananas? Good. Fruit ranks high among the best foods you can eat for your brain. The natural sugars in fruit offer clean energy and blood sugar-stabilizing fiber, so you don’t experience the crash that follows consumption of refined sugar.
5. Choose powerful vegetables. Not all vegetables are created equal. The darker the color, the higher the concentration of nutrients. For example, spinach has lots more to offer the mind and body than iceberg lettuce. Other great vegetable choices include bell peppers, broccoli and sweet potatoes.
6. Smart snacking can enhance studying. Snack smart while studying and you may find that you retain more. Try to get two food groups into your snacks to balance the nutrients and keep your blood-sugar level stable. Some smart snack examples are banana with raw almond butter, or a small baked potato with cottage cheese.
7. Stay well hydrated. A hydrated brain is a fast-thinking brain. Choose your beverages well, though.  Avoid sweetened and colored drinks –both damage brain cells! Caffeine should be kept to a minimum. It can make you jittery and dehydrate the brain. A better choice would be anti-oxidant-rich green tea, since green tea specifically boosts and sustains brain function.