4 Tips for Staying Healthy in College
BY DAVID GUTIERREZ
College may be fun and full of new experiences, but sometimes it seems that the entire habitual college lifestyle is built around the idea of causing as much damage to student’s health in as short a time as possible. Irregular meals often replaced with fast food, all-nighters before exams, partying, long hours spent hunched over books and in front of laptop screens – all these things may not be obligatory, but when everybody around you follows more or less the same pattern, it is hard to be different. However, in reality, it isn’t all that difficult to stay healthy throughout college – you simply have to follow some simple rules.
1. Exercise Regularly
On the one hand, incorporating a fitness routine into your college timetable may be a challenging task if you take into account all the other things you are supposed to do with your limited time. On the other hand, colleges give their students many cheap and accessible opportunities to do so. There are on-campus gyms and swimming pools you can sometimes use for free, and many discounts for students in private-owned ones – so why not make full use of them while you are eligible?
2. Take Care of Your Immune System
Your immune system is your main line of defense against illness – the stronger it is, the better you feel and the less likely you are to come down with sickness when you are exposed to pathogens. Therefore, every investment you make into boosting it translates into time, money and energy saved through staying healthy during the time you would’ve otherwise spent recuperating. The best way to do so is maintaining a naturally healthy lifestyle: eating nutritious and wholesome foods, exercising, having enough sleep. If or when it isn’t possible, you may need to boost it in other ways: by taking vitamins, essential minerals and other beneficial substances like fulvic acid. This way, even if you let yourself lapse in other areas, your immune system will be able to compensate for these deficiencies to a certain extent.
3. Eat Smart
Avoiding to eat highly processed foods is always a good idea, but it is especially true for students because it is during your college years that you establish many of the habits you are going to follow for many years to come. Getting used to eating burgers and pizza five days in a row is bad for you right now, and it will form a habit that is going to be hard to break. So set a limit on how much fast food you are going to consume, stock up on healthy foods so that you don’t suddenly discover that your fridge is empty, and try to cook on your own more often.
4. Drink More Water
Although some studies suggest that you don’t actually need to drink 2 liters of water every day, most health authorities agree that you should probably drink more water than you do now. Potential health benefits from it ranged from faster metabolism and lesser appetite to improved brain function and decreased risk of certain diseases and conditions (e.g., kidney stones and constipation).
How healthy you are right now, in college, defines not just how you feel at the moment and how you spend the next few years. It sets a foundation for decades to come, and avoiding everyday student health troubles like Freshman’s 15 can mean a far better quality of life, later on, fewer health problems and less expenditure on setting things right. As they say, prevention is better than cure, and the sooner you start following this principle, the better.
David Gutierrez has worked in the field of web design since 2005. Right now he started learning Java in order to get second occupation. His professional interests defined major topics of his articles. David writes about new web design software, recently discovered professional tricks and also monitors the latest updates of the web development.
