Taking the CAT? Eat right!

As the CAT rapidly approaches, test takers are pulling out all the stops when it comes to preparation. However, in the rush to be well-prepared for the exam they almost always overlook diet and fitness. These two are important elements in preparing yourself, your body and mind for one of the country's most competitive exams.

You have heard of diets that make you lose weight, diets to gain muscle diets for a better complexion but I'm sure you have never thought in terms of diets for doing better at your exams!

• CAT 2007: Consistency and timing are critical

What you eat or don't eat definitely affects your performance and brain power. Just like an athlete cannot participate in a sport without eating the right kind of food similarly you cannot be completely alert during your exams if you do not feed your brain!

• Eat smart: Exam time requires you to be alert which is not going to happen if you skip your breakfast. So eat a breakfast that will help your brain to refuel. An ideal breakfast consists of a protein food in the form of milk or an egg, a cereal ie breakfast cereal to go with the milk or two slices of brown bread with the egg and a fruit. This will help you stay alert during the exam and throughout the day.

• Do the split: If you eat your standard three heavy meals a day the blood flow gets diverted to the digestive tract and away from the brain making you feel drowsy and sluggish. Instead it is a better idea to split your meals into 6-7 smaller meals throughout the day so you get energy throughout the day in small doses.

• Cut the caffeine: While one or two cups of coffee or tea make you alert, too many cups especially of coffee can make you nervous and jittery. Caffeine also stays in the system for as long as 10 hours and can disrupt your sleep causing mental fatigue. Tannins in tea and coffee bind iron from food and make it unavailable to the body so avoid drinking it with your meals.

• Load up the iron: Iron is a part of our blood as hemoglobin and is responsible for getting oxygen delivered to the brain and the tissues. So naturally, if the hemoglobin level drops (it usually does in times of stress) and oxygen does not get to the brain you will be less alert. Iron rich foods include cereals and whole pulses, dark green leafy vegetables.

• Mind your A's and B's: Antioxidants like Vitamin C and E protect the brain from the damaging effects of free radicals by deactivating them so try to eat at least 5-7 servings of fresh fruits and/or leafy vegetables a day in the form of juices, whole fruits or soups. B vitamins are required for energy metabolism ie vitamins B1, B2, B6, B12 and folic acid and a lack of them starves the brain for energy and leads to confusion, irritability, and impaired thinking, concentration, memory, reaction time and mental clarity.

So eat right and make your brain tick!

Samreedhi Goel is a nutritionist and certified personal trainer. Samreedhi can also be contacted at sizewise@rediffmail.com.