Stress and comfort eating usually go hand-in-hand. As students, we appreciate you're under so much pressure to do your best. So we're not surprised to see packets of crisps, chocolate bars, pizza boxes or any other form of junk food besides your desk.

But this does beg the question as to why students rely on junk food to cope with stress? And does what you eat affect your exam performance? Read on to find out.

Why Do Students Comfort Eat When Feeling Stressed?

When we're faced with stress, it triggers two biological reactions in our body:

Fight-or-flight response : When faced with stress, our body's fight-or-flight response gets triggered. Your heart rate speeds up, your muscles become tenser and your digestive system shuts down. When in fight-or-flight, your focus is either on attacking your stress object or running away from it.

Your heart rate speeds up, your muscles become tenser and your digestive system shuts down. When in fight-or-flight, your focus is either on attacking your stress object or running away from it. Secretion of the Stress Hormone: After the initial fight-or-flight response, your body follows this up with a slower response. Your body secretes the stress hormone known as cortisol, which enables your body to use up more energy efficiently by helping your body to produce more glucose and to burn up fat.

As a result, your body demands a calorie-rich food in-take, hence why people tend to favour tastier high-fat foods when feeling stressed. And if you have been going through prolonged periods of stress, it might be why we tend to stockpile on fatty foods in case we come across any more stressful events in the future.

In one notable study, subjects who were exposed to stressful situations ate more snacks than those who were exposed to a small amount.

Does a Healthier Diet Improve Exam Performance?

The short answer is yes.

Numerous studies have shown that having a healthier diet can improve your mood, enhance your focus, reduce anxiety and strengthen memory skills. A bad diet can lead to jittery behaviour and slow memory.

A recent Australian study has shown that having a healthy balanced breakfast improved cognitive function. The study tracked the process of 800 children over the course of 5 years and found that an introduction of a healthier diet saw an improvement in both literacy and numeracy scores.

What You Should Consume To Enhance Exam Performance

To help you stop comfort eating and have a healthier diet, here are 6 tips that you can use.

Healthy Snacks

As tempting as it may be to buy a chocolate bar, these healthy alternatives are easily available and provide a better way of refuelling your brain:

Low-fat yoghurt

A handful of nuts or dried fruit (i.e. almonds, cashew nuts)

Porridge

Banana, apple or other fresh fruit

Sushi

Toast with low-fat spread

Rice cakes

Green Tea and Water

To some, coffee and energy drinks can cause palpitations, jittery behaviour and even anxiety, leading to a reduction in productivity and even difficulty in concentration. It is best to swap these drinks with green tea and water.

Green tea is rich in antioxidants and has a much lower caffeine content than coffee. For those who do not like water, you can opt for water bottles that come with a fruit infuser which helps to add flavour to your drink.

Oily Fish

Oily fish is rich in omega-3, an essential fatty acid that can improve brain function and eye health. Omega-3 can be found in canned tuna, salmon, mackerel, prawns and calamari.

Eat Vitamin B-rich Foods

Foods that have high quantities of vitamin B can help both your brain and your nervous system perform at their peak. Foods like vegetables, lentils and whole grains are an excellent source of vitamin B.

Iron and Zinc

Both iron and zinc-rich foods can sharpen memory and improve concentration. Lean red meat, oysters, chicken, nuts and whole grains a good source of these two nutrients.

You Are What You Eat

The evidence suggests that what you eat affects your exam performance. By adopting a more healthier diet, you stand a better chance of getting good grades. And see an improvement in your test scores.

For more revision tips, please take a look at some of our related articles below: Study Tips: Using Mind Maps To Help You Learn Study Tips: The Feynman Technique Thanks for reading. Do you believe swapping chocolate for fruit can boost your grades? Please let us know in the comments section below.