Drink yourself smarter

Can water make you smarter?  It can certainly help you to study better.  Since your brain is about 77 to 78% water, if you’re dehydrated, so is your brain.  This results in fatigue, headaches and an inability to concentrate, all of which will prevent you from studying effectively.  Therefore, you must make sure that you are always fully hydrated.  The easiest way to do this is by drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day.  This will help to replace the water that you lose through urine and sweat.  If you live in a hot climate or if you exercise heavily, you will need to drink more than that to replace the extra fluid lost through increased sweating.

In addition to helping your brain function at maximum capacity, drinking sufficient water every day will help our overall health as 'water is essential for the body's growth and maintenance' (BBC Health).  All About Water lists 10 reasons why we should drink water.  Some of the reasons they mention are an increased metabolism, increased energy levels,a reduced risk of certain cancers, reduced joint and back pain, healthier skin, improved digestion and improved circulation.

As well as drinking water, you should also eat plenty of fruit and vegetables, as these have very high water content and contain essential nutrients.  For more about the importance of eating healthily and the affect on studying see the earlier article You are what you eat.  For more advice about studying and how to improve your ability to study effectively get the Super Fast Guide, StudySkills, How to be smarter instantly.  I'm off now for a glass of water!

You are what you eat

In my last post I mentioned how important sleep was for effective learning. Food is another key factor in a person's ability to work, study and learn. In order for the brain to work efficiently, it needs to be properly fuelled. Unfortunately, many people fuel up on fast food and processed meals. This particularly happens when people are on a busy schedule, such as at exam time. However, this is exactly the time when you need healthy, nutritious food to keep you going!

Grabbing a heavily processed snack, packed with fat, sugar and salt may save time, but it will make you feel tired and sluggish afterwards as your body tries to cope with the junk that you've thrown in. Instead, try fuelling up on easy to get, healthy snacks, such as:

• Fish (tinned fish can be used to make a very quick, easy meal)

• Nuts and seeds, such as almonds and sunflower seeds (try to buy them unsalted)

• Fruit and vegetables (eat them raw to save time and get extra nutrients)
• Natural yoghurt

• Brown bread

• Pulses, such as beans and lentils

Personally, I like beans on toast (a classic, but healthy student meal) and bananas (but not together!)

What do you like to have that's healthy, but quick and easy to prepare?

And so to bed

Not enough sleep

The other day I came across an article from Harvard Medical School about sleep. Research at Harvard has shown that a lack of sleep can affect your studies and your memory due to the way the neural connections in your brain work while you are sleeping. A good night's sleep is vital if you want these connections to work properly. If you don't get enough sleep, the connections are weakened and the brain can't process new ideas properly.  Also, it can't fully recall and remember previously learnt information.

Personally, I've always needed my sleep. If I don't get a full 8 hours a night, I feel cranky and stressed. I've also noticed that students who don't get enough sleep find it difficult to concentrate and learn in class.  Of course, I'm not the first person to have noticed this, but it's interesting that Harvard have now shown why this is the case. However, there are people who can work and study efficiently on very little sleep e.g. 4 or 5 hours a night. Harvard themselves say that there is still a lot more research that needs to done on how sleep affects memory and learning. In the meantime, try to get a good night's sleep.

IELTS and Study Skills Guide

The Super Fast Guides to IELTS and Study Skills have now been published on Amazon as ebooks and we were really excited yesterday to see that they had received some reviews.   Glad that the reviews are positive - it's always good to hear that people find the guides helpful.