The Best Food for your Brain
Anyone else feeling overwhelmed by the start of the school year? By the return to a packed campus? By email upon email from professors? The important thing is to mitigate that feeling of impending burnout before it gets too far. Healthy, realistic study habits are a great way to stay ahead of stress, and luckily for us, that means study snacks.
Sometimes you just need to put the laptop and the hard drive down and make use of that MicroFridge you paid so much to rent. By taking periodic breaks every few hours to replenish your energy, you’ll be able to maintain a much more consistent level of productivity. Here’s a list of A+ study snacks to keep you on your toes.
Apples with Peanut Butter
Or Nutella, or sun butter–any other kind of butter, really. Apples are cheap and often available in the dining hall if you have a meal plan. The peanut butter will offer you the protein that you need to maintain study stamina, making this snack an elite combination. While we’re on the topic of apples, let’s discuss the dark horse in the room: apples and cheese. It may sound random, but there’s something about a crisp green apple that goes fantastic with cheese.
Veggies and Hummus
If you’re like me, your mom told you before you left home to make sure you were getting all your nutrients. One of my favorite study snacks is the scoop-n-dip veggies and hummus. Carrots are my personal preference, but if you like celery, broccoli, or cauliflower, by all means, dip those too.
Muddy Buddies
Look, no one ever said your study snack needs to be healthy all the time. Sometimes you don’t just need blood sugar–you need chocolate. Consumers of Chex cereal can attest that the recipe for Muddy Buddies–and the photo–are always staring them in the face from the back of the box. This snack requires a bit more preparation than apples and cheese, but it’s full of melted chocolate and powdered sugar, so it’s worth it.
Ultimately, study snacking is not so much about what you’re eating but rather about how you’re eating. Are you eating enough to give you enough energy throughout the day? Are you eating regularly enough to sustain that energy consistently? And are you taking your snack breaks as a moment to care for yourself and your body? Study snacks are self-care, and it’s important to prioritize yourself as you dive into this semester.