Food- Feb
Eat well to score well
Naini Setalvad explains how our diet shapes our personality and offers advice on eating the right foods to improve performance in exams.
Year after year, I have concerned parents who want their children to excel in life, and when exam time draws near, I am bombarded by nutritional queries to make the child a super brain. I am elated that people are waking up to the importance of the link between nutrition and brain function. “Jaisa aahar, vaisa vichaar” which means “As you eat, so shall you think.” How does this connect with performance? Let me delve a little bit more into the philosophy of Indian food. Are the words sattvic, rajasic, and tamasic ringing a bell? These three categories of foods are, in fact, of great significance in how you perform in today’s world, whether academically, emotionally, or physically.
Let me tell you briefly about tamasic foods: these are foods which poison the body. There was a very interesting study done in the USA where all juvenile criminals had one thing in common. One would automatically assume that they were criminals because they were children of criminals or they came from poverty or they had some mental illness. It was none of these but just the fact that they ate foods that were nutrient-dead! A regular intake of leftover, frozen, microwaved, deep fried, processed foods made of white flour and laden with sugar, chemicals, and pesticides deadens the mind and bombs the soul. A person may perform, but it would normally be by foul means.
Make sattvic food
Rajasic foods are highly salty, pungent, spicy, and overcooked, automatically making them low in nutrients. These induce stress, anxiety, anger, and aggression.
Sattvic foods are fresh, seasonal, local, cooked on a slow flame, and primarily plant-based and full of nutrients. It is food that contributes to the making of serene, mature, and excellent achievers. So, when it comes to achieving excellence in life, I remember the words of our late ex-President A P J Abdul Kalam when he awarded me for spreading nutritional awareness in the nation: “Healthy body, healthy mind means healthy nation for all of us.”
People like Mahatma Gandhi, Dr Kalam, and J R D Tata ate very simple and natural foods and their contribution to the world was amazing! Sattvic, rajasic, and tamasic traits all reside within us. I am sure that you, as parents, want your children to achieve brilliance in life but by fair means. For this, we need to increase the sattvic quotient in our diet. Read on to know what foods we should eat daily to improve percentile and give your child an extra edge.
I cannot stress the importance of eating local, seasonal, fresh, organic, and more plant-based foods enough.
Drink water
Wake up in the morning and start with a brain-boosting beverage—water— as it helps circulation and carries nutrients and oxygen to the brain, thus making you alert. Water is the best pick-me-up, helping you assimilate, digest, and eliminate waste from the body, simultaneously rehydrating your cells and refreshing you overall. I also recommend including tulsi (basil) herbal infusions as it is the best de-stressor. Avoid all caffeinated and sugary drinks as they make one anxious and slow down reflexes.
Eat banana
I suggest that you start the day with a banana, a piece of fresh coconut, and a few leaves of basil. The banana has serotonin which wakes you up, coconut has good fat for the brain which will enhance concentration, and basil will improve your mood. All of these are available round the year.
Add vegetables
I find the addition of vegetables to all meals very critical. They reboot your brain and are your key immunity booster antioxidants which are needed to reduce the risk of mortality. To my clients, I emphasise that vegetables should not be restricted to your leafy greens, but the wide range in the shades of yellow, orange, red, purple, white should also be included. So, add them to everything, be it poha, upma, paratha, bread, roti, daal, curd, or dosas.
Munch on nuts
Munching and studying go hand in hand. However, we tend to munch on foodstuffs that, like terrorists, bomb our bodies and blast our brains. So, let’s replace them with salted nuts, seeds, fruits, and dry fruits. The nuts and seeds are packed with quality fat. The brain is made up of fat, so if you put in quality fat, it will function at optimum levels. It is the body’s instinct to turn to sugar because man’s first food was mother’s milk which is naturally sweet, followed by fruits and dry fruits, which we all love to eat because they are sweet! I wholeheartedly encourage this because they are packed with natural sugars, vitamins, minerals, and fibre. It is a win-win situation.
Eat good grains
Add grains to your diet; just see that they are whole grains like wheat, bajra, jowar, unpolished rice, nachni, and rajgirah. Throw out the refined flours and their products like pastas, noodles, breads, and processed cereals. Remember that all this needs to be accompanied by vegetables.
Consume quality proteins
Consume quality proteins as protein power enhances the production of dopamine in the brain. There is an abundance of vegetarian sources like pulses, beans, chickpeas, dals, sprouts, peas, curd, paneer, and tofu. However, have protein along with vegetables to help increase concentration.
Include vitamins
Vitamins are essential for your body to perform many neurotransmitter functions in the nervous system, especially the brain, which is used the most during exams. Get your vitamin levels checked, especially those of B12 and D3. Take in sunlight for an adequate amount of Vitamin D.
Get good sleep
When the brain is sleep-deprived, attention suffers. So, sleep early to get a good night’s sleep, thus ensuring you wake up feeling refreshed.
You have nothing to lose and lots to gain, so start reflecting on what and how you and your children eat. An A+ diet could be the key for overall better performance in life for all.
Recipe:
Seed Power
Ingredients:
2 tsp sesame seeds
2 tsp pumpkin seeds
2 tsp sunflower seeds
2 tsp flax seeds
2 tsp watermelon seeds
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp chilli flakes
rock salt, to taste
lemon juice, to taste
Method:
Dry-roast seeds for a few minutes on a
warm pan.
Once cool, mix all seeds with oregano, chilli flakes, and rock salt.
Squeeze lemon juice.
Serve as a snack.
Tulsi Herbal Infusion
Ingredients:
7–8 tulsi leaves
½ inch fresh ginger root
1 cup water
lemon juice, to taste
Method:
Take a few tulsi leaves and boil in water for some time.
Strain and add a squeeze of lemon juice and some grated ginger.
Serve hot.