Brain Boosting Meals to Tide Your Child Through the Exams Period

Food for the brain

Exams is round the corner. Some parents have taken leave to show their children some moral support while they prepare for exams. While doing so, it helps to prepare some nutritious meals to boost your child’s memory and focus abilities.

By now, it’s easy to discover brain-food. Just by doing a quick search on google, we can find a consistent list of food that are always mentioned as brain-boosting. We will not be repeating what have been written before. Rather, let us suggest to you some yummy and nutritious meals to prepare using these brain-boosting food. If you have not before been made aware of these common brain-boosting food, do not fret. We still have them listed for you here.

Eggs

Egg yolks have always been controversial in health articles. Some encourage less of egg yolks due to its high cholesterol. Another school of thought would argue that the cholesterol from egg yolks are actually good cholesterol. Here, we are all for egg yolks. Egg yolks contain Choline that helps to regulate mood and improve memory.

Eggs is a very versatile food that can be used for all meals. For breakfast, eggs can just be served on its own. Some children like boiled eggs while some prefer half-boiled eggs with some black sauce and pepper. Others like scrambled eggs (with a dash of black pepper and salt) that can go with toast.

For lunch, eggs may be used to prepare a sumptuous egg sandwich meal. Preparations is easy – place a slice of cheese on a wholemeal bread, and then place a hot sunny side up on the cheese and finish off with another piece of wholemeal bread on top. The combination of melted cheese and oozing yolk makes the sandwich irresistible even in the middle of intense concentration. Salad can be used for sides for some fibre intake.

For dinner, eggs may be used to cook omelettes. Omelettes can be cooked in a variety of ways depending on the child’s preference. Some children prefer omelette plain, as it is. To make it more flavorful, simply spread some tomato sauce on the omelette. You may also add other ingredients like onions, spring onions, crab meat, ham or cheese to add taste to the omelette.

Eggs may be steamed too! The simplest way to steam eggs is to use a small packet of chicken stocks, mix in with 3 beaten eggs. It is ready for steam. You may sprinkle on some chopped spring onion to add colors to your steam egg dish.

Fatty Fish

Fatty fish contain Omega-3s fatty acids that are great brain-boosting nutrients. Fatty fish can help sharpen memory and improve the mood of children. Two types of popular fish in this category would be salmon and codfish.

Salmon makes a wonderful addition to a nutritious breakfast meal. If you are an adventurous cook, you may attempt to prepare a dish of smoked salmon eggs ben! If done well, smoked salmon is great for breakfast because it is easy to down.

For lunch, you may try steaming codfish in light soy sauce. Codfish is very oily in nature, therefore it is not suitable for frying. Steaming would be the perfect way to prepare codfish. Nothing additional because codfish in itself is strong in its flavor. Remember to add in a few pieces of ginger to reduce the strong fishy smell. Steamed codfish with light soy sauce may be added into plain porridge to make a light meal for lunch.

For dinner, baked salmon makes a great treat. If you can get your hands on some sage (which in itself is a great brain-boosting food and yummy seasoning), you may marinate your salmon with sage, basil, some salt and black pepper. Place the salmon in the oven together with some bell peppers and potatoes. That makes a delightful dinner dish that is not at all time consuming!

Broccoli

Broccoli is a great source of Vitamin K – an oil soluble vitamin that improves cognitive functions. It is not an easy food to down, even for some adults. It is also not an easy food to cook! If overcooked, broccoli changes its color to become more yellowish and tastes bitter. It becomes no longer attractive aesthetically and to the taste bud too. Overcooked broccoli can also be less effective in supplying us with the required nutrients. However, if not cooked enough, broccoli brings a very raw taste that puts off the taste bud as well.

Our recommended way to prepare broccoli would be to cook it with chicken feet broth. Chicken feet has always been known to be a great source of collagen (a must-eat for beauty and cartilage health). However, few of us know that the Glycine found in the collagen in chicken feet can improve sleep and memory for our children! First, simmer chicken feet (add ginger to remove the chicken smell) in a pot of water for about 2 hours to make the broth. At the same time, cut the broccoli into small pieces (huge bouquets of broccoli stalks only make them look harder to down). 5 mins before serving, throw in the broccoli and add in some salt for taste. Broccoli soup in chicken feet broth can be served during lunch together with macaroni for a light meal. Alternative, use the chicken feet stock to cook porridge, and then stir in finely chopped broccoli into the porridge 5 mins before turning off the heat. It is often advised to cook broccoli with meat because the Vitamin K in the broccoli is oil-soluble.

For a dinner dish, try preparing stir-fried beef or pork with broccoli. Again, chop the broccoli to smaller pieces to make them look easier to manage. Also, throw in the broccoli at the last minute so they are not overcooked and retain their fresh green color.

Walnuts

Walnuts are shaped like our brains. The beauty of mother nature is that it gives us the hint of what is good for different parts of our body by creating food that look pretty much like that particular body part. One of such food is wolfberry – that looks like our eyes, and is indeed a great food to improve our vision. Another would be black beans – shaped like our kidney and is itself a kidney tonic.

We can get walnuts and eat them on its own as a snack, or thrown into stir fried spinach (mentioned by some sources to improve mental performance). Another way to get nutrients out of walnuts would be to simmer them in soup. Simply boil some pork ribs (or beef bones) in a pot of water, add in some celery (not widely acclaimed to be a brain-boosting food but mentioned by some), pumpkins (because orange and green makes the soup very attractive and they have complementary taste) and lastly some walnuts. Simmer the soup on low fire for about 2 hours. Serve it with white or brown rice.

Brain-boosting snacks

Blueberries can help improve connectivity among brain cells. They may be eaten on its own as a healthy snack. For those who do not fancy blueberries on its own, try making blueberries muffins for a yummy treat for tea-break! They may also be added into salads as a side dish.

Dark chocolate not only helps mental performance but improves your child’s mood as well! It makes a great break, and helps your child manage his stress and anxiety.

Exercise and Good Sleep

Lastly, exercise and good sleep help the brain retain information more effectively. Encourage your child to get out for some sunshine in the morning, and participate in some outdoor activities. If your child in young, encourage him to go to the playground daily. Do not keep him at home to study just because it is the exams period. Do not stop him from sleeping if he needs to sleep more. With these, we wish you all the best in your child’s exams.