Steve said:I know this is a bit off-topic for weightlifting... but this group
seems by far to be the most knowledgeable about chemistry and sports
medicine, so I'm hoping someone might not mind taking a swipe at my
question. I'm 30 years old, and thinking about going back to school
for a graduate degree and career change. I've always been pretty
good with standardized tests... but since I was an unmotivated (lazy)
undergraduate, I will HAVE to do well on the GMAT/LSAT/etc to balance
out the mediocre GPA on my applications.I've been taking practice tests for both the GMAT and LSAT, and have
been pretty pleased with how it's going. However, these are LONG
tests (several hours), and focus and mental fatigue become factors.
I'm wondering if there are things I can be doing with nutrition and
supplementation to improve focus, concentration, and short-term memory
over the course of a 4-5 hour test period. I'm not looking for "magic
pills" that will make me more intelligent. I'm just hoping to avoid
the phenomenon of my brain turning to oatmeal 3/4 of the way through
the test, where I'm reading a literary passage and then can't
remember what I just read when answering questions about it!I did some searching on Google (including this newsgroup), and the
main subjects which keep coming up are creatine supplementation and
"choline cocktail" formulas. However, I wasn't sure if the creatine
claims were bunk or not, since the only real scientific test I've
found used vegetarian subjects (more likely to be creatine-deficient
in the first place). As for the choline cocktail formulas, all the
products I've seen contain massive amounts of caffeine. That's a
problem for me because my body is EXTREMELY sensitive to
stimulants... anything over a soda's worth of caffeine gets me
jittery and unfocused, I once tried ephedra and almost went to the
hospital. Caffeine and other stimulants are often touted as having
mental performance benefits, but that route simply isn't an option
for me.Any thoughts from the group (helpful or humorous)? Is creatine
supplementation worthwhile for my purposes? Are choline cocktails
really driven by one or two "primary" ingredients that could be
supplemented individually without the unwanted caffeine? Is all of
this stuff just snake oil, and I should stick with multivitamins and
good nights of sleep?
A good routine of exercise, good sleep habits, getting up/going to bed at
the same time of day and establishing a regular routine.