The importance of nutrition is far too often minimized in college for understandable reasons: students are busy, constantly on-the-go and it can be difficult to sit down and eat a meal when there is so much other work that needs to be completed.
Personally, I have an extremely busy schedule of crew practice six days a week, classes, a four-credit internship and work. Fitting in times to eat can be tough. One of the most challenging lessons that I needed to learn was how to allot time for meals and take food with me when I am running late.
Eating serves as a time of self-care, and by fueling one’s body properly, the individual is more prepared to handle the rest of their day with a clear head. The importance of nutrition is often thrown to the back burner, but students should especially take extra prudence in managing it.
Nutrition plays a vital and essential role in sustaining life and it cannot be ignored. Placing focus on nutrition will allow the rest of one’s day to flow more smoothly with the body and brain working as efficiently as possible.
The key to eating on a college campus is to make efforts to eat, and eat enough. It can be tempting to skip out on a meal when one’s schedule is completely full, but this will only be detrimental in the long run. Through my own experience, I have learned that not eating, whether intentionally or unintentionally, leads to decreased energy, slow and unclear thinking and poor concentration and focus.
The benefits of stable and healthy nutrition are clear: increased energy, concentration and focus, decreased anxiety and depression, muscle growth and fat loss, lower chances of stress fractures, a stronger immune system and a healthier heart and brain.
These are the facts that I need daily reminders of; I needed to learn that eating is not optional. As college students, it’s easy to get caught up in the temporal experience of our daily lives and forget about the long-term health consequences of our decisions, or even the short-term ones. Ignoring one’s physical needs will lessen the capability to remember information on an exam, stay awake through the entirety of a class or complete homework.
My aim is not to hate on anyone’s diet or efforts to get into shape, but rather to clarify and even remind you about the needs of one’s body. Even though many of us are already aware of the benefits of eating well, this does not mean that they are always a priority to us. I am not here to be your dietitian, but nutrition is an area that matters.
Don’t put yourself at a disadvantage by de-prioritizing one of the most important parts of your daily routine. It is vital that we all take the initiative to pay closer attention to our bodies.
Kara Bilello is a sophomore majoring in English.