5 Eating Habits that Contribute to a Healthier Student Lifestyle
Many myths and misconceptions surround student life. It’s natural for many prospective students to imagine student routines as endless parties, joint pizza-eating sessions during homework completion, and a permanent residence next to the coffee vending machine during exam preparation. But what movies and TV shows never tell is that such nutritional habits will quickly undermine your health, leaving you without energy for studies. As a result, too many students graduate with an ulcer, a bunch of eating disorders, and a couple of dozens of extra kilos.
Avoiding such a nutritional trap is easy, as a Nutrition expert at our Do My Test website, Paul Nicholas, claims. Years of nutrition research and personal experiences of Paul prove that following a healthy lifestyle is possible even amid hectic studies and irregular eating. Here are some healthy eating tips for college students to let you develop a healthy, sustainable nutrition plan and preserve your health throughout the study years.
Why Follow Health Tips for College Students?
While we are young and healthy, we might think that living a healthy lifestyle is not mandatory. You can always afford a pizza or 10 cups of coffee a day or two without health risks. However, regardless of the perseverance of your health system, it may let you down one day. An illness doesn’t reveal itself gradually; it usually strikes unexpectedly. Thus, it’s much wiser to invest in your health while it’s still strong instead of curing an illness later on.
Following the health tips for college students can be beneficial for your health in the long run. Benefits of healthy eating include (but are not limited to):
- Proper amounts of energy for daily activities
- Healthier, better-quality sleep
- Improved intellectual performance
- Greater physical perseverance and physique
- Resilience in the periods of intense studies before exams
Top 5 Healthy Eating Tips for College Students
Now let’s proceed to some concrete healthy eating tips for college students that you may follow to preserve and improve your health. Try them all and stick to the ones you feel are the most effective for your well-being. Ideally, you should use them all in a super-powerful combination.
#1 Drink Enough Water
The requirement of drinking at least eight glasses of water every day didn’t come out of the blue. It results from years of thorough research and lab experiments showing the benefits of keeping your body consistently hydrated. If you drink enough water every day, your organism will work smoothly with proper metabolic processes. As the human body contains over 60% of water, replenishing your water balance is essential for keeping your tissues operating, excreting all metabolic waste, and ensuring proper digestion. Besides, properly hydrated brains perform intellectual tasks better, enabling you to study quicker and more productively.
#2 Eat Calcium-Containing Products
Though all nutrients and vitamins are valuable for human health, the role of calcium can hardly be overestimated. By consuming enough calcium, you prevent blood clotting, the strength of your teeth, bones, and tissues, as well as the health of your nervous system. Besides, proper calcium intake in student years is a strategic investment in your later years’ health as calcium is accumulated in the bones only until the age of 30. After 30, your calcium intake doesn’t affect bone strength.
The richest sources of calcium are milk and dairy products. Fans of cheese may also not worry about calcium intake as cheese is also rich in calcium. However, the latter product is calorie-rich, so you should exercise moderation and consume cheese in limited portions to avoid unwanted weight gain. Vegans may derive calcium from nuts, greens, soybeans, and fortified orange juice. So, whatever diet you follow, you can increase calcium intake in a couple of simple steps.
#3 Strive to a Balance in Carbs, Fats, and Protein
Some people wishing to lose weight or improve their bodies’ performance start experimenting with removing some vital nutrients from their diets. For instance, low-fat or low-carb diets are popular among young women trying to keep their bodies slim. However, science is non-equivocal in this regard; to be healthy, the human organism needs all kinds of nutrients, including the demonized sugar. Fat is critical for the hormonal health and cell linings, but overeating fat may cause the storage of extras in the fat cells. Protein is an important building material for muscles and vital amino acid formation. Carbohydrates are a critical energy source for your body, but you should be cautious about their dosage as extras are stored in the human liver. Supplement the balanced nutrient intake with enough water to make the process work smoothly.
#4 Plan Your Snacks in Advance
The most significant challenge to healthy eating in college is the hectic lifestyle and many tasks to perform each day. Many students leave their rooms early in the morning to study in class, then attend a library, and then go to a part-time job. So, they may have a scarce breakfast and then get a decent meal only late in the evening. Such nutrition will do no good to your health, so you need to take care of healthy snacks in advance. Prepare packs with dry fruit and nuts; have a pack of Greek yoghurt with some berries with you; keep a couple of bananas at hand. Using these products for snacks will reduce your calorie intake and avoid overeating with fast food meals.
#5 Sleep Well
The importance of sleep for better health can’t be stressed enough, and students are the most vulnerable population group (after mothers of infants) suffering from a chronic lack of sleep. Having one-two all-nighters is OK when you’re getting ready for exams. But chronic sleep deprivation is very dangerous for your nervous system, plus it causes metabolic problems very quickly. Keep in mind that your diet will never be effective without sufficient sleep, as all metabolic and hormonal processes occur during deep sleep phases.
Is Healthy Food Expensive? Saving Tips for College Students
Eating healthily is an investment in your life quality, endurance, and well-being. Besides, it’s always about economy. Many students think that healthy food is too expensive for them, thus opting for fast food and snacks. But by following the saving tips for college students, many start buying the right products and cook healthy meals, spending 2-3 times less on food every week.
In addition, you can count the money saved on lab tests, doctor visits, and medications you might need if you develop diabetes, ulcer, or gastritis as a result of persistently unhealthy eating. These problems can arrive unexpectedly, ruining your health and causing mounting treatment checks for you. Thus, by buying healthy food and making healthy choices, you save money, time, and effort that you’ll otherwise need for treatment.