Best Foods and Eating Habits for Student’s Nutrition
Meals during college years are the subject of many jokes because students often pay very little attention to them. The reason for this may be a lack of money, time, or just laziness. When you are young, it seems that skipping breakfast won’t do you any harm. But poor nutrition can cause serious damage to health.
Let’s see if the myths about what a student eats have real grounds, and consider some tips for simple and healthy eating.
Students often have financial difficulties. As a result, it affects their nutrition. Many of them are looking for extra income to cover all their expenses. They have less time to study and may begin to have difficulties in their studies. A lot of unfinished homework can pile up. Fortunately, every student can get expert paper help by WritingAPaper to improve their academic success.
Students can usually afford to eat in public places. Not surprisingly, fast-food restaurants are popular.
All countries have student dining halls on college campuses or in dormitories, where prices are much more reasonable than usual. Many canteens offer additional discounts for students.
A frequent method of eating for a student is to ask his dorm mates for food. The result may look like this: rice, potatoes, onions, carrots, melted cheese, and if you’re lucky, a sausage.
If you think you can’t make anything good out of this, you’re dead wrong. They put some rice, sliced potatoes, and a previously made fry of onions and carrots in boiling water to make a light lunch. When everything is almost cooked, grated melted cheese and salt are added.
And then there is something called “Student Joy”: croutons of rye bread are fried and then rubbed with garlic. Or onions are fried in vegetable oil and eaten again with black bread. Another creation of the hungry student is the sandwich.
Life in the student dormitory for many people is associated with constant hunger and monotonous eating.
What Should a Student Eat?
This question often arises among students starting their independent life. With only a stipend, it is difficult to distribute money properly and not go hungry.
Almost all of the above foods, except fast food, are quite suitable for an inexpensive student diet, but quickly become boring. Therefore, a few tips on how to diversify the student menu will be useful.
- Oatmeal for breakfast. It is cheaper to buy the most common, without additives. Seasonal fruits and berries, nuts and jam will help to diversify it. If you have a freezer, you can freeze berries in the summer, when they are inexpensive, and add them to breakfast throughout the year.
- Basic food. Cereals, potatoes, and an extra packet of pasta are better to have at all times, buying wherever is cheaper and more convenient. Even if you suddenly run out of money, you won’t have to starve. Pay attention to supermarket promotions. Most of them have long had a website where the information is updated regularly, so it only takes a few minutes to check the prices.
Rational Nutrition for Students
Modern conditions have changed the nature of labor activity of a large part of the population and led to an increase in the number of people engaged in intellectual labor (economists, lawyers, managers, programmers, marketers, bank clerks, etc.). It is known that an actively working muscular system is a factor that ensures the smooth functioning of all organs and body systems, especially the cardiovascular and nervous systems. In addition, insufficient muscle load in conditions of a relatively high-calorie diet leads to an increase in body weight.
Great stress in the psycho-emotional sphere, can cause adverse shifts in the central nervous and cardiovascular systems, as well as in metabolic processes. This leads to the development of fatigue and decreased performance, increased release of adrenaline, and corticosteroids, and increased blood cholesterol, triglycerides, and glucose. Along with the absence or lack of physical activity, this contributes to the development of atherosclerosis.
The intense activity of nerve cells causes increased consumption of proteins and water-soluble vitamins, which increases the need for vitamins C and B group by 25-30%.
Nerve cells are very sensitive to the lack of nutrients necessary for their normal functioning. Reduced blood glucose levels arising from irregular meals, inhibit the activity of the cerebral cortex – headaches, a sharp drop in performance and attention. Vitamin deficiency leads to irritability, sleep disturbance, memory problems, and develop a depressed mood.
The most important principles of nutrition
- Reducing the caloric content of food to the level of the energy input produced;
- Complete satisfaction of the physiological needs of the body in macro-and micronutrients;
- Antisclerotic orientation;
- Anti-stress orientation;
- Lipotropic orientation;
- Increased motility (motor) intestinal function;
- Maximum variety of products;
- Four and even five meals a day.
The most significant problem is the violation of students’ eating habits. Thus, from 25 to 47% of students do not eat breakfast, 17-30% eat twice a day, about 40% do not eat lunch or eat irregularly, and about 22% do not eat dinner. Young people spend a lot of time using their cell phones. This is not surprising, as you can download useful apps for students that are not only for leisure but also for health, education, etc.
The student’s body is characterized by peculiarities due to age and the influence of the conditions of study and life. Educational activities require considerable neuro-emotional stress, the excitement before and during exams leads to high blood pressure, increased pulse rate, and breathing. Students lead a sedentary lifestyle for most of the day. Students’ physical activity is low. Only some students engage in sports.
A great influence on the body of senior students has a change in their habitual lifestyle.
The body of young people has not yet completed the formation of several physiological systems, especially the neurohumoral, so they are very sensitive to violations of the balance of the diet.
Many students develop diseases of the digestive system due to eating disorders during their studies.
When choosing foods, it is necessary to take into account the limited money budget of students. Cheap sources should be used to provide students with sufficient amounts of biologically valuable proteins.
An excess of sweets should be avoided, as it can lead to obesity and diabetes, the consumption of sweets, especially sticking to the teeth, leads to tooth decay.
Thus, when drawing up food rations for persons of mental labor, it is necessary to take into account the influence of the characteristics of work and the functions of the physiological systems of the body.
Students are the least likely to think about nutrition because they have no free time at all. But the right diet during this period is especially important because the constant stress and increased activity of the brain is a real test for the body. In such conditions, he needs a lot of energy, which is not deposited on the waist.
The most important meal is breakfast. It should be moderately nourishing, but not copious. Porridge is the best.
If you constantly want to distract from studying for snacks, it is better to prepare them in advance, choosing something healthy for the brain: not chips or cookies, but nuts, dried fruits, or dark chocolate. They will give you the energy you need and will not harm your health.
The main disadvantage of most foods that are attractive for their price and quick preparation is the serious harm to health. Even if it seems that there are no consequences, they can make themselves felt later.
Students need to eat healthy to be healthy. Eating the right foods improves brain function. It is also important to set aside time for rest. If you are very busy, turn to the best writing services for expert help with paper assignments.
First of all, it is worth observing the simple rules that do not depend on the budget:
- Regularity of meals;
- Avoid dry meals and snacks on the go;
- Eat protein. Even if it seems that meat is expensive, it’s better to buy chicken breast than sausages.
About the Author
Twigs cafe staff is comprised of editors, writers, food & drink experts, nutritionists, and researchers to create informative and helpful content for health-conscious people.
