Nutrition is actually a decisive - but often overlooked - factor when it comes to getting good marks.
A number of studies have been made to demonstrate this. Practical nutritional programmes involving thousands of children document that proper nutrition promotes learning, intelligence, ability to concentrate, and physical as well as mental endurance.
The American Alexander Schauss, one of the experts in this field, has written a well-documented book on nutrition and the achievements of schoolchildren. In his book "Eating for A's", he gives a 12-week step-by-step guide to optimal nutrition for the brain. The book describes a large study on this topic; it lasted from 1979 to 1983 in which a total of 600,000 children participated in the study.
School lunches had been violently criticized, leading to an alteration of the guidelines for school lunches. Primary produce of high quality - rich in vitamins, minerals, and other important nutritents - were purchased. The RDA (recommended daily allowance) was estimated to be far too low and for this reason, it was stressed that the food must contain more important nutrients than that recommended by RDA.
In the dietary programme, 3 main points were included:
- The use of all kinds of refined white sugar was to be reduced.
- All food containing artificial flavour additives and colouring agents were to be removed.
- The use of foods containing preservatives was to be reduced. A reduction of food that was known to be able to cause behavioural problems when eaten in large amounts was also performed.
At the end of the study, the collected data were analysed. A pronounced improvement of the pupils' results on intelligence tests was observed. In a standard test, the pupils at the school scored more points than any other school in the entire history of the USA. Their diet was the only thing that had been altered.
Since then, the same dietary programme has been introduced into other American educational institutions - 111 in total. In these places as well, tests and statistical analyses have confirmed that the food programme has increased the overall cerebral ability. In other words, high-quality food resulted in better marks.
It is interesting that not only were the mental achievements of the pupils improved, but their sports achievements topped the scores at many sports competitions as well. Moreover, bone injuries in relation to sports activities were reduced by 30% compared to the average.
At a school in Wales, an experiment was also carried out. The pupils were given a questionnaire in which they were asked to write what they had for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The results were shocking. Some pupils actually did not get human food. Their breakfast consisted of a cup of coffee with sugar, their lunch was potato crisps, and the rest of the day they ate candy and sodas.
In an attempt to compensate for the poor diet, it was arranged that a group of pupils were to be given a dietary supplement. Another group of pupils were given placebo. The rest of the pupils had the function of a control group. In the subsequent intelligence test, the group who had been given dietary supplements had a score that was the double of that of the placebo- and control group. The only two pupils from the group that had been given dietary supplements who did not have a high score turned out to be ones who had the highest intake of sugar and fat.
A recent and more comprehensive programme with a larger number of pupils was started at the same school. Several kinds of tests were used and the collected material was computerized and analyzed at a University. The results of a non-linguistic intelligence test showed that the pupils taking dietary supplements achieved a significant increase in their intelligence quotient. This study was published in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet and was commented on the BBC.
The nutritional elements that have appeared to be of great significance and that were used in the studies are:
Vitamin A, vitamin B1 (thiamin), vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin B3 (niacin), vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), folic acid, vitamin C, iron, magnesium, potassium, chromium, zinc, and the essential fatty acids; omega 3 and omega 6 oils.
The foods containing the highest amounts of these beneficial nutrients are:
Sardines which have appeared to be beneficial to short-term memory in several studies as well as being rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, iron, zinc, and potassium. Other beneficial foods are: salmon, tuna fish, bananas, abricots, wheat germ, and chicken giblets.
Other things that are just as important to a good cerebral function are sunlight, rest, physical activity, and mental well-being. You should make sure to have your body cleansed of heavy metals as they block a number of important cerebral functions. Moreover, hypersensitivity reactions could be a significant blocking factor to an optimal cerebral function.
References:
- Schauss, Alexander, Friedlander Meyer, Barbara, & Meyer, Arnold: Eating for A's; Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1991, ISBN 0-671-72814-8.
- Roberts, Gwilym: Boost your Child's Brain Power, Thorsons, 1988, ISBN 0-7225-1752-1.
For further information, see the following articles in the Health Problems section: "Allergy", "Food allergy", "Food intolerance", "Heavy metal poisoning", and "Mercury poisoning".
