What to Eat on Test Day: A Nutritionist’s Guide to GMAT & GRE Performance

Co-authored with Brandee Hommerding, GMAT Ninja Nutrition Expert

Brandee Hommerding is a Denver-based expert in holistic nutrition. She is driven by her passion to help clients find sustainable ways to cultivate lasting wellness. She focuses on identifying the root causes of symptoms, and incorporates research-backed approaches to nutrition for mental performance. For more on her approach to nutrition and wellness, visit Brandee’s website!

What you eat has a direct impact on how well you can think. Food is essentially a messenger to the cells in your body, and the food you choose provides macronutrients, micronutrients, phytonutrients, antioxidants, and more. Low-quality food deprives your cells of the key ingredients they need to perform, and that matters when you’re asking your brain to do three-plus hours of intensive reasoning on test day.

We asked holistic nutritionist Brandee Hommerding to walk through exactly what students should eat, when to eat it, and how food connects to the anxiety that derails so many test-takers.

Test Day Breakfast: Don’t Skip It

Brandee’s first rule is simple: don’t skip breakfast. How you fuel your body in the morning sets the tone for the whole day. Every meal should contain all three macronutrients: fat, carbs, and protein. Each of those macros provides fuel that lasts for different lengths of time. You’ll digest carbs the fastest while protein takes the longest. By combining all three, you’ll stay satiated longer and keep your blood sugar stable, which is exactly what you want when you’re sitting for a multi-hour exam.

Skipping a meal is never a great idea, Brandee adds. When you reach that hangry state, you’re more likely to grab highly palatable foods that are often less nutrient-dense. Hunger also tends to make people eat as quickly as they can, which can lead to overeating because the brain doesn’t have enough time to register fullness signals.

Smart Snacking During Test Breaks

For snacks, Brandee recommends combining at least two of the three macronutrients. Quick options include jerky, nuts, fruit, and hummus with veggies. Stabilizing your blood sugar during breaks will give you consistent energy and focus for the remaining sections of the exam.

Caffeine and Test Anxiety

Caffeine affects everyone differently, but in general, it raises your cortisol level. Cortisol is your fight-or-flight hormone, the one that elevates your heart rate and increases blood pressure so you can run from a threat. While that cup of coffee or energy drink may seem innocent, it can amplify the feelings of anxiety you’re already dealing with on test day.

That doesn’t mean you need to quit caffeine entirely, but if anxiety is already a factor in your test performance, it’s worth being deliberate about how much you consume and when.

The Connection Between Food and Anxiety

There is mounting evidence that gut health can impact mental health. Digestion takes place in the GI tract, which houses its own ecosystem of nonhuman microorganisms, also known as the microbiome. The bacteria of the microbiome outnumber human cells by a significant margin.

Both beneficial and pathogenic bacteria live within the microbiome, and both are important. But when the pathogenic bacteria outnumber the beneficial ones, Brandee explains, you can see an increase in mood disorders. Pathogenic bacteria tend to run rampant when your diet is low in fiber and high in inflammatory foods. Beneficial bacteria, on the other hand, thrive when you eat a wide variety of prebiotic, fiber-rich foods that cover your macro and micronutrient needs.

Meal Prep for Busy Students

Meal time does not need to be an elaborate event. Brandee is a fan of sheet pan meals, one of the fastest ways to prepare a lot of food at once. Pick a protein source, chop up some veggies, toss in olive or avocado oil, season, and roast for 20 minutes. Serve with a grain (brown rice, pasta, quinoa) or on a bed of greens, and you have meals for the rest of the week.

Another shortcut: pick up a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store. Debone it at home and use the chicken for tacos, salads, buddha bowls, and whatever else you can throw together.

If you’re still strapped for time, Brandee recommends checking out meal prep delivery boxes. The ingredients come pre-prepped with easy instructions, and dinner can be on the table in 20 to 40 minutes. Green Chef is the one she prefers.

When to See a Nutrition Expert

You don’t need to be in crisis to benefit from working with a nutritionist. Brandee often finds that clients have been suffering with underlying symptoms they’ve chalked up to “getting older” or “genetics,” or had their symptoms dismissed by a provider who handed them a pamphlet and called it a day. Once you start to understand how the body works and correct any imbalances, symptoms can subside and quality of life improves.

A first meeting with Brandee is a 30-minute phone call where she learns why a client is interested in working with a nutritionist, what they’ve tried before, and what symptoms they’re experiencing. From there, she determines what services and support she can offer.

Brandee’s approach is “test, don’t guess.” Because the body is a complex network and symptoms can have multiple underlying causes, testing provides a clearer roadmap for the journey. Some of the most common tests she uses with clients include the IgG food sensitivity test, GI MAP, salivary hormone panel, organic acids test, and comprehensive thyroid panel. More details are available on her website.