It is 9:59 a.m. You’re trying to take notes in your morning lecture and your stomach starts to growl. You try to focus on the Professor and the PowerPoint at the front of the class, but you keep zoning out. Maybe it is because you stayed up way to late last night, or you are starting to feel hungry.
Whatever it is, you keep thinking about what you are going to have for lunch instead of what is being lectured about.
You need energy. It is hard to concentrate when you are hungry and fatigued. What you are trying to focus on in class is not as important as food is to your body.
It’s like trying to write an essay while your favorite movie plays in the background. You get distracted by things that may not seem important. But it’s not your fault.
Students who eat breakfast in the morning before classes are more likely to succeed in classes and have higher grades. Focus usually drawn from hunger or fatigue can be directed to what is important and on the board.
We don’t call breakfast the most important meal of the day for nothing. It may seem like a good option to skip breakfast in the morning to save time, but you will probably regret it later.
Eating breakfast in the morning means that you will not be distracted during class. Being hungry during class can be a distraction as bad as texting, talking to those around you, sleeping or even scrolling through Instagram.
To do well in class, you need to take great notes to study later. When you are distracted, you do not take as well of notes as you would when you are not distracted.
According to Lindsay Stern, a writer for healthy eating and meals at SFGate, eating breakfast can help students recall facts and help overall memory thanks to carbohydrates. She also says eating breakfast can fuel the brain with increased glucose levels in the bloodstream.
Whether or not you choose to eat breakfast in the morning is up to you. It does save time in the morning to skip breakfast and you can catch more “Z’s” if you do skip.
With a solid breakfast, your focus will increase and it will be easier to concentrate while in lecture. Your note taking will also increase and it will be easier to study outside of class. Not only that, but food tastes delicious, and it is always a smart idea to fuel the brain.
Emily Pearce can be reached at [email protected]