Eating healthy and living an active lifestyle is essential for college students, no matter how busy you may be. With so many stressful situations to handle and various tasks and deadlines to meet, it’s important that you store lots of energy by eating the right kind of meals for your breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner. To help guide you in properly sustaining your body with the right nutrition here are seven healthy eating tips that every busy college student will find helpful.
#1
Start with a Good Breakfast
Breakfast is considered as the most important meal of the day. The best way to start your day strong is by supplying your body with a nutritious meal that will keep you energized all throughout your day. In fact, it is found that skipping breakfast can keep you from efficiently performing tasks at school. If you tend to be short on time, you might want to stock up your kitchen with some easy to make breakfast meals or prepare your meals in advance so that you won’t have to rush through your morning and skip breakfast.
#2
Eat Plenty of Foods Rich in Calcium
Calcium plays a very important role in helping your body function properly. It’s a key nutrient for muscle and nerve functions, as well as for helping you maintain healthy teeth and strong bones. In fact, even if you’re already in your 20s, you are still building up your bone mass, so it’s essential to take advantage of these years to get plenty of calcium from your daily meals. Dairy products such as milk, yogurt, cheese, butter, nuts and dark leafy vegetables are all great sources of calcium that are easy to incorporate in your meals.
#3
Drink More Water
Your body is made of up to 60% water. Thus, it’s essential that you keep the water level high to make sure that your body and all your organs are functioning properly. Your body will normally need at least 8 glasses of water, but if you are into lots of physical activities throughout your day, you will need more. A good way to keep yourself hydrated throughout the day is by keeping a bottle of water handy. This way, anytime you feel thirsty, you have water available to drink. Plus, drinking water regularly is a healthy habit that you will want to adopt.
#4
Choose Fast Foods Wisely
With a very busy lifestyle, there will be times that your only option for meals are fast food. It’s fine to eat fast food every now and then, but you should be wise in choosing which food to eat. Eating pasta, pizza or burger is fine, but there are different ways to eat these meals in a healthier way. Some restaurants and food establishments even specialize in preparing healthier versions of fast food. Some even serve veggie fast food, while maintaining the same flavors that a regular pizza, pasta or burger will offer.
#5
Limit Your Sugar Intake
Sugar is known to be clinically addictive. In fact, you might have your sugar cravings every now and then, especially when stress levels are high. But indulging on lots of sugar-loaded food and drinks will affect your energy levels more. Sugar is known to provide a temporary high, but this will result in a sugar crash that will make you feel less energized. Too much sugar in your system will also cause your glucose levels to spike and plummet. It also affects your immune function, increasing the risk of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.
#6
Have Snacks to Hand
There will be lots of busy days for a college student like you. In fact, you might become too busy that you can’t even take time to grab a snack from the cafeteria. This is why it’s best that you keep a healthy snack handy. A bag of mixed nuts or berries, a piece of whole fruit or a pack of sliced fruits, granola bars, or oatmeal cookies are some of the ideal snacks that you can bring with you to class so you can munch on something healthy whenever you get hungry.
To keep your body healthy and fit, and to be able to cope with all of your college activities, it’s essential that you plan a healthy diet. By eating healthy and exercising regularly, you can easily keep sickness and stress at bay. Your health should always be your top priority, for without it, you won’t be able to achieve any success in college.
