From a nutrition standpoint, what is a good snack for break during ACT?

[Laurie4b]

I'm planning eggs (protein & choline), toast (carbs), tea (There is something in tea besides caffeine that aids concentration) for breakfast.

 

I'm trying to figure out whether or not to include protein in a snack sent to the test. Pro would be it sustains energy, but con---does protein take longer to digest?

 

In sports, you don't want any of your body's energy wasted on digesting food. Would that be the same in a thinking "sport"?

 

I'd love to hear from someone who has studied this.

[Quiver0f10]

I haven't studied it, but I sent my kids with a kashi bar for a snack on test day with a water bottle. They love them and it has high protein and fiber.

[Liza Q]

I was also going to recommend Kashi bars! Or take a look at the Zone bars - a nice balance of protein/carbs/fat, I think.

 

And no, I have not researched it. My daughter asked for a sugary granola bar the day she took her SAT and I was fine with that - whatever made her feel comfortable, you know? I did give her the breakfast you are planning as it is a sensible pre-test meal.

[ereks mom]

I don't think he drank the whole Coke, though. He needed a caffeine "pick-me-up", plus I guess the sugar gave him some energy. He's really skinny, with a tendency toward low blood sugar, and he has to eat pretty often. He prefers snacks with protein to stave off hunger, but also likes to have a little sugar for quick energy. Whatever he ate must have been okay; he scored 30 on the ACT.

[Brenda in MA]

and some water for a snack. I also sent him with a Clif bar, but he only ate the z-bar.

 

Brenda

[Jane in NC]

Forgive me for my baseness, but my son had different concerns. He ate a lighter breakfast and snack, did not drink a lot. He was terrified of requiring the facilities (i.e. the toilet) before the break!

 

Of course, my son is a worry wort who would think of something like this.

 

Jane

[Michelle in MO]

Forgive me for my baseness, but my son had different concerns. He ate a lighter breakfast and snack, did not drink a lot. He was terrified of requiring the facilities (i.e. the toilet) before the break!

 

Of course, my son is a worry wort who would think of something like this.

 

Jane

 

That's been a concern over at our house, too! :blush:

[Tullia]

I can barely remember taking the ACT, but one of the things I do remember is waiting, waiting, waiting for a break and hoping to be first out the door w/o being too obvious! One of my test strategy suggestions to ds is when testing in an unfamiliar place locate the facilities asap.

 

On the question from the OP...people differ so much in how their bodies process carbs, and a lot depends, too, on the quality of the carbs. My favorite strategy is a good quality carb with some protein and a bit of good fat in order to avoid a carb high followed by a drop off. I'd rather test hungry than eat a snack that "goes away" too quickly.

 

Forgive me for my baseness, but my son had different concerns. He ate a lighter breakfast and snack, did not drink a lot. He was terrified of requiring the facilities (i.e. the toilet) before the break!

 

Of course, my son is a worry wort who would think of something like this.

 

Jane

[MicheleinMN]

Forgive me for my baseness, but my son had different concerns. He ate a lighter breakfast and snack, did not drink a lot. He was terrified of requiring the facilities (i.e. the toilet) before the break!

 

Of course, my son is a worry wort who would think of something like this.

 

Jane

 

 

My dd is also concerned about this, but my ds hasn't mentioned it. You're right, though, she is the worrying type.

[newbie]

Great trail mix or nuts. But I guess some protein bars would be the same.

 

Jet

[Laurie4b]

Actually, I thought of that, though it hasn't crossed ds's mind. Why they have to give these tests so early in the morning is beyond me! Why not 9:00 instead of 8:00? Then everyone could come in, their meal digested, ETC!

[Anne/Ankara]

Our homeschool math club teacher is a real proponent of cinnamon, as an aid to memory, before big tests. I have no idea if there is any science behind it, but it is fun to have cinnamon toast for breakfast that day!

[Oakblossoms]

Water, chocolate soymilk that was a frozen bit (so it's still cold), and a protein bar or cashews.

[love2read]

Think about what your dc likes to eat under stress and send that. One of my dc could eat anything at any time, so I told him to take whatever he wanted and he did fine. Another child seemed to have no nerves, but that morning she took one bite of toast, two bites of her egg and thought she was going to be sick. She took a banana, almonds and some water. At break she took a few bites of the banana and a swig of water. She did fine too.

 

I'd go with what the child wants to take.

[langfam]

Mine tend to be hypoglycemic, so we stay away from anything sugary. I sent them with a hard-boiled egg, nuts, cheese sticks, a slice of whole wheat bread and water. They ate the cheese. They didn't have time to eat much else as breaks were very short.

[Laurie4b]

Well, cinnamon is known to keep blood sugar levels in check; I wouldn't be surprised if it's a memory aid! You're right, ds probably isn't going to object to cinnamon toast!

[Jan P.]

Definitely have your dc eat protein for breakfast. If you can get protein into a snack (crackers w/ peanut butter or a protein bar) then that would be good too.

 

My ds did his best on a SAT test when he followed the above advice. He overslept for his last SAT test and didn't have time to eat a breakfast. That was his lowest score.

 

I definitely recommend plenty of sleep the night before too.

 

Blessings,

Jan

[Moira in MA]

Just a heads up on a problem we encountered when dd took AP Chemistry this May:

 

Candidates are told to put everything under their chair. At break, candidates are told they may not touch stuff under chair.

 

Result: dd did not get her snack. Those in the know left their snack outside the exam room.

 

HTH

[Jackie in AR]

That's exactly what my boys did: peanut butter crackers and a soda.

[Chris in VA]

Just fwiw, when I worked for PR, they recommended kids take a candy bar to eat halfway thru the test. The number one rec was Snickers, because it has a little protein and a lot of sugar.

 

Their theory is you need to feed your brain the glucose, and get it to your brain quickly. It's ok if you crash later; it just has to last about an hour and a half.

 

When I proctored the practice SAT's, you'd see really thin girls choking down their candy bars--it was both hilarious and weird (and somehow satisfying...:D).

[SallyMac]

My son took the SAT last Saturday. The day before the test I told my son to go into the store and pick out some trail mix (he came out with Nutrigrain bars, Yuk). Trail mix is recommended when the Boy Scouts do their annual trek to the top of a New Hampshire mountain. Like the Snickers bar, it has nuts (protein), but also dried fruit (glucose), just a lot healthier than the Snickers bar which could be too sweet (w/high fructose corn syrup) on a nervous stomach which could make you thirsty.

 

I have read lots of studies that say the brain works best on glucose. But I have never heard about the cinnamon theory...hmmm...I think I will try this as my memory is slowly turning mush. If cinnamon regulates blood sugar levels, this makes sense as far as consistency is concerned. No energy spikes or crashes=endurance.

 

LOL, I am so glad I was not the only one worried about the rest rooms and nervous stomachs. In fact, I kept it to myself for fear I would be accused of being an obsessive-compulsive, overprotective mom.

[Laurie4b]

Thanks for this info. I wonder how I can check whether that will be the case with the ACT. It seems being required to leave your snacks outside would leave lots of room for people without snacks to acquire one.

[SallyMac]

I walked from the parking lot with one of the proctors. I told him my son has 10 pencils, a pencil sharpener, TI-83, water bottles and snacks in a large ziplock bag. Can he bring all this in? He said "he can bring in 100 pencils if he wants." ...and that anything they can't leave at their desk they can put on the teacher's desk in the front of the room. Now the instructions from the college board said to bring in 2 pencils, so I assumed that was a rule. I guess these are just guidelines.

[Jackie in AR]

Princeton Review recommends Snickers Bars.

 

Just fwiw, when I worked for PR, they recommended kids take a candy bar to eat halfway thru the test. The number one rec was Snickers, because it has a little protein and a lot of sugar.

 

Their theory is you need to feed your brain the glucose, and get it to your brain quickly. It's ok if you crash later; it just has to last about an hour and a half.

 

I'm not letting my boys get wind of this, Chris. Next thing you know, they'll be asking for Snickers in preparation for every little quiz we have around here.

 

:lol::lol::lol:

[Anne/Ankara]

Actually, I thought of that, though it hasn't crossed ds's mind. Why they have to give these tests so early in the morning is beyond me! Why not 9:00 instead of 8:00? Then everyone could come in, their meal digested, ETC!

 

I agree! When my ds took an AP exam in May, he needed to be there by 7:15am! And it was about 35 minutes from our house. Can you believe that! Well, those poor high school students were the probably the same ones who board the 6:30am bus each morning for class. Terrible! Seriously, that's one huge benefit of homeschooling!

[Chris in VA]

That's hilarious, Jackie--

Hey, I'm studying for my Praxis exam--*smacks forehead*

I coulda had a Snickers Bar!!!

[Lisa in TN]

My ds took a granola bar for his snack during the ACT - and he brought it home uneaten. He said the break was so short that by the time he had returned from the restroom, there was no time left to eat the snack.

[sarah in tenn]

Clif bars, zone bars with peanut butter. Also, the energy gels have some caffeine if needed; my son does not like soda.

sarah