Ok, best supplements...for exams!

barginboyrob

Hi, ..was just wondering

Say I have to work very hard in the next coming months...what would be the best supplements to take...(if I can only afford 5 different ones)

I'm guessing: a multivitamin, omega 3/cod liver oil, ginko?

Ahh any suggestions are welcome..

thanks for your time!

juno

Rather than buying lots of supplements, just try eating lots of oily fish

ktb

supplements are a waste of money in my opinion... they can never be as perfectly balanced and nutritionally accessible to your body as they are in food.. and you wee most of the stuff out. Just eat a good balanced diet with lots of fresh fruit & veg and drink plenty of water. A decent sleeping pattern will help as well.

Ted_Hutchinson

A tin of Sardines in Tomato sauce provides 2g of omega 3, never get the ones in oil as that way you are not improving your omega3<>omega 6 ratio.

Ideally you need 4g of omega 3 (EPA + DHA) daily. You may find it easy/cheap to also add 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed to your cereal or use more to season veg, substitute for eggs/fat in baking or thicken stews/casseroles/soup etc.

To cope well with stress you need optimal feelings of Well being and these occur when your body's need for Vitamin D3 is met.
The links page of The Vitamin D council website has sources of effective strength cheap capsules Vitamin D and Cognitive function

Magnesium: The Stress Reliever magnesium is another supplement that like the above is commonly insufficient and correcting any insufficiency will enhance your ability to cope with stress.

Badger_Lady

Potassium can help with the old brain power - but get it by eating lots of bananas! Very good for you :-)

I have used Ginko Biloba before, which is supposed to increase circulation to the brain, but I'm not sure how effective it was. My Grandmother takes it in the hope that it will prevent her developing Alzheimers like her Mother, but again I'm not sure whether it works. If you do use it, have a big glass of water after each pill.

Vitamin D - definitely a good one, but I get mine by studying in the sunshine whenever possible!

I have to admit, I have a little ritual of taking Ibuprofen with a Red Bull about 1 hour before an exam... really shouldn't be helpful to take these sorts of chemicals, so it's probably just a psychosematic thing, but it keeps me sharp and prevents me getting a headache!

melancholly

i'd advocate plenty of revision, lots of sleep and a packet of sweets in the exam for half way through when brain power starts to be a struggle!

Ted_Hutchinson

melancholly wrote: »

lots of sleep !

Late-Night Teen Cell Phone Use a Threat to Sleep
Remember the extra hour you get to bed early before midnight is worth more sleepwise than the extra hours you stay in bed in the morning. Bright light first thing in the morning will switch off your melatonin cycle but bright light at night keeps you awake. So it is better to use subdued lighting from 8-9pm, then go to bed early and wake to bright light. Keeping your bedroom as Dark as possible by elimintating digital displays and any other light source and having thick tightly drawn curtains to eliminate street lighting also helps improve sleep quality.

Ted_Hutchinson

TEENAGE SLEEP: SOME FACTS, FIGURES AND TIPS

WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DON’T GET ENOUGH SLEEP?

· You could get fat. If you sleep for less than four hours a night, you’re 73% more likely to be overweight than someone who sleeps well, researchers at Columbia University in New York have discovered. Research also found if you sleep for less than six hours a night, you are 25% more likely to be overweight. (Slimming Magazine, April 2005).
And researchers also claim that hormonal changes caused by a lack of sleep could lead to an increased appetite. People who slept for 5 hours had 15% more ghrelin (a hormone that increases feelings of hunger) than those who slept for eight hours, and those who slept for fewer hours had 15% less leptin (a hormone that suppresses appetite). Research by University of Bristol, led by Dr Taheri. (International Therapist, January 2005).

“Sleep is the best thing for happiness, beauty, everything.”

Actress Penelope Cruz


· You won’t look your best. Forget expensive beauty treatments, if you want to look your best, put a good night’s sleep at the top of your list. Research from the University of Chicago found sleeping for four hours a night for less than a week hits the body’s ability to process and store carbohydrates and regulate hormone levels. These changes mimic many of the hallmarks of advanced ageing.

Pop star Britney Spears says that without lots of sleep she gets “ratty and insensitive.” Britney says she catches her Zzzz’s whenever possible on her hectic schedule of tours and considers sleep an important part of taking care of herself.

· You could get spottier. It’s not just junk food that causes spots – hormones have a lot to do with it too – especially in teenagers. As lack of sleep can play havoc with your hormones, not getting enough kip could pave the way for more zits!

· You could get stupid. Lack of sleep makes it hard to concentrate, can make you clumsy and both memory and creativity suffer. You get a little stupid, too. Stanley Coren, a Canadian sleep expert claims you lose one IQ point the next day for every hour of lost sleep the night before.

“I really look forward to snuggling down into clean white sheets and duvet for a good eight hours’ shut-eye. I’m lucky enough to be one of those people that goes off into the ‘land of Nod’ as soon as my head hits the pillow.”

TV presenter Michaela Strachan

· It could make you ill. Lack of sleep suppresses the immune system making you more vulnerable to infections and metabolic and hormone changes. Extreme sleep deprivation brings hallucinations and difficulty speaking and moving.

TEENAGE SLEEP: SOME FACTS AND FIGURES

· A Belgian survey of 2,500 teenagers, published in the Journal of Sleep Research, found that almost 10% of 16-year-olds are roused from their sleep several times a week by the bleeping of an unwanted text. A further 20% are being woken up to three times a month.
· From about the age of 14, waking and sleeping times start to get later and later, giving the classic teenage pattern of sleeping till noon and staying up until the early hours. The pattern appears to continue until about the age of 20 – so it’s officially a teenage phenomenon. From an article in the August 2007 issue of the Yorkshire Post by Elaine Snell and Eleanor Barrie of the European Dana Alliance for the Brain.
· According to the April 2007 issue of Soldier magazine, the MoD was considering introducing ‘protected sleep time’ for teenage recruits. The article said new research suggested adolescents are ‘biologically programmed’ to snuggle under the duvet because their brains undergo massive development during puberty and need more of sleep’s regenerating properties.
· Sleep deprivation in adolescents dramatically affects their behaviour at school and harms their mood, academic performance and health. Quote from Baroness Susan Greenfield, professor of pharmacology at Oxford University, writing in the June 1 2007 issue of The Times Education Supplement.
· Students who habitually go to bed late will see it hit their academic results according to a scientific study in South Korea. The greater the number of late-nighters, the greater the effect on mental health and academic performance. Reported in The Scotsman, June 13 2007.
· Research by the National Sleep Foundation in the US also found that students obtaining lower grades went to bed later and had fewer hours sleep than their higher-achieving classmates.
· Using a mobile phone before going to bed can double the time it takes to fall asleep according to a study by the Sleep Research Centre at Loughborough University. Reported in The Sunday Telegraph, June 17, 2007.
· A report by The National Consumer Council, released July 16 2007, found that children who spend lots of time in front of the TV and computer are more materialistic, argue more with their family, have lower self-esteem and a lower opinion of their parents.
· Oxford professor Russell Foster claims teenagers work better in the afternoons and that an extra lie-in could help them learn more. He claims having to go to school before their bodies are ready is turning them into ‘Kevin the teenager’. Story reported in the January 28 2007 issue of the Scottish Sunday Post.
· According to a report by psychologist Dr Aric Sigman, too much telly poses an even greater risk to the health of youngsters than previously thought. The report, published in the science journal Biologist, said watching TV suppresses production of the hormone melatonin which has important functions in the immune system, sleep cycle and onset of puberty.
· An American survey by the National Sleep Foundation found 28% of high-school students said they fell asleep in class at least once a week. Twenty-two per cent dozed off while doing homework and 14% arrived late or missed school because of oversleeping. Ninety seven per cent have at least one electronic item in their bedroom, such as a television set, a computer, a phone or a music device. Nearly 30% said they were too tired to exercise. Reported in The Times, March 29 2007.
· A study found that early school starts were forcing students to perform academically at a time of day when they were at their worst. Sleep diaries showed that adolescents lost as much as two hours of sleep a night during the school week, but at weekends slept like they would in the summer holidays. All the students performed better in class during the afternoon than they did in the morning. Researchers from North Western University in Illinois carried out the study. Students at Evanston Township High School Illinois kept sleep diaries as part of the research . Reported in the Western Mail Series, June 7 2005.
· Teenagers who drink more caffeinated soft drinks sleep less, are more likely to wake during the night and tend to be sleepier during the day, a study has found. Experts tracked nearly 200 teenagers, aged 14 to 16, for two weeks, and found some teenagers had a 800mg daily intake of caffeinated drinks (normal average consumption just 63mg) The study was led by Dr Charles Pollack of Ohio State University and published in the journal Paediatrics, January 8 2003.

SLEEPING TIPS FOR TEENAGERS

There are several practical hints and tips for parents that may help the teenager with sleep problems. Talking over worries may well help to put them into perspective.

· Try to impress on the teenager the importance of sleep and the need for at least eight to nine hours’ sleep on school nights.
· Encourage regular exercise - 20 minutes three times a week will help.
· Suggest a reduction of caffeine intake (in coke drinks as well as coffee).
· Point out that eating too much or too little close to bedtime - an over full or empty stomach - may prevent sleep onset, or cause discomfort throughout the night.
· Try and get the teenager into a going to bed routine - suggest that doing the same things in the same order before going to sleep can help.
· Ensure a good sleep environment - a room that is dark, cool, quiet, safe and comfortable.
· Make sure the teenager has a comfortable bed. It may be time to get a new one - and encourage him or her to choose it themselves.
· Don’t give teenagers hand-me-down beds. A good rule of thumb: if the bed’s no longer good for its first user it’s not good enough for a teenage child either.
Remember, habits learned in adolescence often become lifetime habits - so make sure good sleep habits are learned early.

The Sleep Council Press Release

chloebelle

get loads of sleep over exam period - this is essential!!

I have found multi-bionic activia good for raising alertness