The examinations of classes 10th and 12th have started. Students appearing for the board exams need to take special care of themselves in terms of food, sleep, and stress to avoid falling ill during the examinations.

 Apart from stress, lack of sleep, cold, stale, junk, and fast food are emerging as the main reasons for the illness of students.  Students who have not prepared well for the examinations become stressed at this time, although some other students become stressed just because of the fear of the exam, no matter how good their preparation is.

Some students do not sleep properly due to stress while others want to devote more and more time to studies due to which they are not able to sleep properly.  Stress and lack of sleep not only reduce the body’s immunity but also adversely affect appetite and health, due to which the secretion of enzymes and hormones in the body gets disturbed and the balance of Vata, Pitta, and Kapha doshas gets disturbed.  This increases the possibility of the occurrence of diseases. 

Students should get adequate sleep at this time and do light exercise once or twice a day to avoid stress.      Physical activity of 5-10 minutes in between continuous sitting for studies is necessary for health as well as to prevent boredom of studies.  Physical activity reduces the levels of stress hormones like cortisol simultaneously increasing the levels of hormones of happiness and energy like serotonin.

The mood of the weather is constantly changing, sometimes the sun shines and at other times the cold wind blows.  Noon is hot but mornings and evenings are cool.  Due to fluctuations in temperature,  the body is unable to adapt itself to the weather.  Not only students but common people are also getting infected with cough, cold, fever, and flu due to this quick temperature variation.  In such a situation, avoid using ice cream, cold drinks, and items kept in the fridge, and use hot milk, vegetable soup, etc. regularly.

Stale food, junk food, and fast food can also cause illness in this season because various types of bacteria and viruses become active during this time causing vomiting, diarrhea, typhoid, abdominal pain, and other infections of the gastrointestinal tract.  To prevent such diseases, avoid junk food, fast food, processed food, canned food & ready to eat food at all.  Consume healthy and warm homemade food, green vegetables, and seasonal fruits.

To stay healthy during examinations, students should get adequate sleep, remain stress-free, do light exercise regularly, and eat only fresh and healthy home-cooked food. Ten to fifteen minutes of Yoga & meditation will help in removing stress andbringing sound sleep as well as in better learning, concentration, and memory.

Dr R P Parasher,  Chief Medical Officer (Ayurveda) Municipal Corporation of Delhi