The day-to-day grind of a college student is unpredictable. One day can be spent laying in your dorm and the next day, you could be out and about from early morning all the way into the late of the night, with no real breaks in between.
Likewise, most college students have to account for every cent that both enters and leaves their bank accounts. The fact that we carefully manage our finances leads us to choose the cheaper food options when deciding between healthier foods, which tend to also be the unhealthy food options.
In the midst of our busy schedules, limited funds and the fatigue of attempting to take on adult tasks, the last thing we want is ingredients that will cost us a lot of money or a meal that is time-consuming.
Countless nights, I have rushed into my dorm thinking about how I could prepare a “healthy” meal, only to find half a bell pepper and soggy grapes in my fridge. I was left with no choice but to stop at the many cafes, restaurants and fast-food establishments that I so deliberately try to avoid.
What we want is quick, convenient and cheap. Ironically, the foods that are of most detriment to us are the ones that meet this criteria. What we need has to take higher priority over what we want. Many of us are in college to use it as a tool to help us reach our aspirations, in whatever way that may be.
The unfortunate thing here is that unhealthy foods are hindering us at the point of our lives where we need to be the most productive and most ambitious in order to make our futures a reality.
The most obvious way that unhealthy foods affects you is weight. Junk foods are packed full of toxins, exceedingly high in fats and sugars and bad carbohydrates. Each of these don’t benefit our bodies in any way and makes all aspects of your life that much more difficult.
You don’t have to be a freshman to fall victim to the “freshman 15.” Over time, the additional fats cling to the body. Performing daily tasks like walking to class or just tying your shoes start to become harder. The reason this happens is due to the fact that fast food attacks all aspects to your body and slows down your everyday functionality.
Digestion break down the foods we eat and converts them into energy that can either be readily used or stored for later. Fast foods inhibit this breakdown because they are easier to digest. This is why we feel a short burst of energy. However, a crash shortly follows as these levels are not sustainable and you’re back to the vending machine for more.
Junk foods are literally created for the sole purpose of being addicting. The fast food industry markets to the need for instant gratification in society and we as consumers play right into their hands. They are all packed full of sugars and sodium to taste good, but they don’t actually provide us with any of the vitamins and minerals that our body depends on to perform properly and encourage deficiencies.
Food quality generally decreases as the portion sizes increase. Most food that is available to consumers in the U.S. are not portioned out properly. A study conducted by the Journal of the American Academy of Dietetics attests to this point, concluding that restaurants serve customers larger portion sizes than necessary and “expose patrons to excessive portions that induce overeating through established biological mechanisms.”
If you combine the fact that most junk foods are easily accessible, constantly at a nutritional deficit and typically heavily portioned within a short time, college students don’t have a chance.
Your brain is highly sensitive to the toxins within your body whether they’re entering or exiting. Attributable to the fact that the brain is the powerhouse of all functions throughout your body, it needs the right foods to fuel it to complete all its tasks efficiently and effectively. Whole foods, such as grains and beans, provide us with vital nutrients that our brain needs.
The highs and lows of sugar levels make it difficult for concentration in academic capacities and can promote exhaustion when thinking critically in class.
Junk foods may give you short-term satisfaction, but in the long-run, you’re only damaging your brain’s ability to perform due to fatigue, which can affect your productivity in class, your capacity to do work and your ability to comprehend the concepts that were discussed.
One of the worst feelings in the world is being in class with an hour left feeling hungry because you only had time for a bag of chips. There have been many classes when all I could concentrate on was the persistent rumble in my stomach and all I could see was my professor speaking, but no sound coming out.
The physical aspect is not the only thing that’s compromised by unhealthy foods. Junk foods can also seriously take a toll on your mental health as well. Over time, high levels of unhealthy foods can increase the risk of depression, lowered self-esteem and anxiety.
A study by Loma Linda University researchers was performed to illustrate the links between psychological health and junk food intake by people of varying backgrounds and socioeconomic status. The study deduced that those with higher intakes in unhealthy foods were more prone to higher levels of psychological distress. Junk foods hinder our ability to process things logically and reason through life’s obstacles, which make our problems more difficult to manage.
Your overall health is compromised as a whole. All these ways that junk foods physically disrupt your body’s processes throughout a long duration contribute to many health issues, such as diabetes and high cholesterol and increased risk of deficiencies in pertinent vitamins such as vitamins C and D, as well as premature death.
People may also overlook another important way that junk foods are impeding you and that is by highjacking your finances. One would assume that because fast food and ready-cooked meals are cheaper than their healthier alternatives, they are cheaper overall, but this is not the case. Junk foods are designed so that you are never really at peace and that you keep reaching for more and more. One bowl of chips quickly becomes a bag until you go out the next day and buy another one. This is because you are trying to appease what junk foods are not equipped to give.
Unfortunately, finding healthy foods on a college campus located in a city is extremely difficult. As college students, we are perpetually in limbo. We are living in an environment where you can pass by three or four fast-food chains before you stumble on an overpriced salad. It’s definitely not easy as a student on campus trying to balance the healthy diet you are meant to be eating and falling short when you feel forced to choose between many unhealthy alternatives.
While the idea of stopping by the vending machine for a quick snack might seem appealing and innocent enough — definitely easier said than to actually limit your intake — it’s important to remember how much damage you are actually doing and how you’re preventing yourself from becoming the best version of you.
