With finals week almost here, students are beginning to study and prepare for exams. One thing that many students do while studying is snack.
Business administration major Theo Brainer says his go-to snacks while studying are pizza rolls and fruit. However, he says healthy snacks help him perform better. “I like healthy food the night before an exam. If not, I feel terrible and don’t perform as well as I should,” he said.
Brainer said how long he studies and when he studies depends on the exam. “I usually spend about one to three hours per day studying, depending on the exam. I start studying for finals the week before and during,” he said.
Accounting major Sarah Price said her go to study snack is popcorn, but said she performs better when snacking on healthy food. “It gives me more energy, but it’s usually not what I want,” she said.
When it comes to studying for finals, she said she typically studies three to six hours per class.
Neuroscience and psychology major Lauryn Weisenburger said pretzels or popcorn are her favorite study-time snacks. “Depending on the amount of material and effort that I need to put in for studying, I think that eating a healthier snack might give me more energy, but I don’t think it would impact my test performance,” she said.
Nutritionist and nursing instructor at Bellarmine Erin Wiedmar said it’s important for students to eat anytime they are hungry. “It’s important to nourish your body whenever you’re hungry. You don’t have to snack when you study, but if your body is hungry, feed it,” she said.
“It’s actually more important to continue to focus on your normal eating habits. So, making sure we are not skipping any meals and not only consuming processed foods,” Wiedmar said.
Wiedmar said students should not miss meals because they are stressed and distracted. “That would decrease concentration and energy,” she said.
Wiedmar said students may lack a lot of protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals. “To add protein back in, some easy and convenient snack foods might be nuts or peanut butter, cheese or yogurts, meat, beans, and chickpeas. There are protein bars or protein shakes,” she said.
Wiedmar said it’s okay to snack no matter how late it is.
“Hunger is going to mess with your sleep more than anything. If we are feeling hungry, we should always honor that and eat something. So, we do not want to ignore hunger cues. The whole don’t eat after seven or whatever they say is actually a big myth,” Wiedmar said.
“If that’s when you need energy, then that’s when you need to be eating. Typically, we choose highly processed convenience foods when really, we want to stick to our normal meal patterns,” she said.
Comments