The 10 Best Brain Food Snacks for Studying - NAU

Dark chocolate is full of antioxidants and natural stimulants. It improves blood flow to your brain, helping you focus better. And it increases your body’s production of mood-boosting endorphins, making you happier.

It’s easy to make popcorn yourself on the stove top, or you can use a popcorn maker if you have one. Then drizzle a little olive oil over it and sprinkle on some salt. Or go for cinnamon and sugar, if you’re craving something sweet.

Making popcorn like this is much healthier than using microwave popcorn and it’s tastier too.

Apples, oranges, grapes, strawberries, blueberries, kiwis, the pineapple chunks from the back of the cupboard and that slightly bruised banana you don’t know what to do with. They’ll give your brain a boost of energy and fill your body with vitamins, minerals and fiber.

Plus, you can save yourself time with this snack: make a big batch and you’ll have enough for breakfast the next morning, too.

It’s higher in protein than regular yogurt (it contains twice as much per serving!), which will help fill you up and curb your hunger. And it’s also full of bone-building calcium and gut-friendly probiotics.

To mix up the flavour, try adding a drizzle of honey or some of your leftover fruit salad.

Buy a bunch of grapes, pop them into a ziploc bag and put them in the freezer – they’ll be ready for you to snack on while you’re studying the next day.

Stick to refreshing and delicious frozen grapes while you study, and save the ice cream and popsicles for post-exam celebrations (when you don’t need to use your brain any more).

You can snack on just veggies… but they’re better with hummus.

Hummus is high in protein, calcium and brain-boosting Omega 3 fatty acids. Which makes it the perfect partner for vitamin and fiber filled veggie sticks!

Eat your hummus with carrots, cucumber, red pepper, celery, sugar snap peas or your fingers.

Pumpkin seeds, cashews, sunflower seeds, pecans, almonds,dried cranberries, raisins… or any other mix of dried fruit, nuts and seeds which takes your fancy!

You can keep your trail mix in an airtight container (like a ziploc bag or a mason jar) for up to a month, so make yourself a big batch to have on hand.

This is a very very good combination of two great snacks: apples and peanut butter.

Cut your apple into slices and spread a little peanut butter onto each one. If you’re feeling fancy (or you need something to put on your Instagram) you can create adorable mini sandwiches.

If you’re looking for a crunchy salty alternative to chips, this is it.

Chickpeas are full of protein and fiber (unlike potato chips) and surprisingly tasty when you roast them in the oven with salt and chili powder for 45-60 minutes.

You can also try making them with garlic and parmesan or honey and cinnamon.