College students are no strangers to stress. They have a very demanding lifestyle and have to juggle a lot of their time between school, work and play (if possible). In order to keep up with their lifestyle, whether it is staying up late to cram for a test, partying on the weekends, or working out at the gym they depend on food and require energy. Therefore, food is a very important element in their lives.Unfortunately, the typical college student diet is well off balanced consisting of large amounts of caffeine, sugar, and fat, such as coffee and hamburgers.
Caffeine obviously allows the students to stay awake to study all night (assuming they study) and hamburgers are choice for the students on the go. To function more effectively our bodies need a well balanced diet. In this section, we deal with everything from the best after workout meal to the healthy junk foods you crave and even how to eat right in a hurry. Whether it is a quick snack, meal or an after- workout shake you need, we got it. Find out how to fit nutrition into your busy schedule.
So you woke up late this morning and had to hurry to your 8 o'clock class because you stayed up late studying for a test today at 10:00 a.m. Before you hit your next class and the next class after that, you have just enough time to swallow a cup of coffee and choose between a Twinkie, Snickers or Rice Krispies Treats from the vending machine. Thinking about your weight and your flabby gut, what is your best choice?
Your best choice would be a Rice Krispies Treats. According to Men’s Fitness August issue 2000, it is among the 12 cheat friendly foods. It contains only 90 calories, 18g carbs, 1g protein and 2g fat. The other 11 healthy junk foods are:
| FOODS | CALORIES | CARBS | PROTEIN | FAT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baskin-Robbins Smoothie | 150 | 35g | 4g | 0g |
| Mc Donald’s Hotcakes | 340 | 58g | 9g | 8g |
| Domino’s Cheese Pizza (2 slices) | 319 | 44g | 14g | 10g |
| Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Yogurt | 200 | 35g | 4g | 4.5g |
| Haagen-Dazs Chocolate Sorbet | 120 | 28g | 2g | 0g |
| Kettle Crisp Baked Potato Chips (1 oz. Honey Barbeque Flavor) |
110 | 22g | 3g | 1.5g |
| Nestle Flipz (1 oz.) | 130 | 20g | 2g | 6g |
| McDonald’s Strawberry Sundae | 290 | 50g | 7g | 7g |
| Kellogg’s Lowfat Frosted Strawberry Pop Tart |
190 | 39g | 2g | 3g |
| Planter’s Peanut Bar (1.6 oz.) | 230 | 22g | 6g | 14g |
| Dairy Queen Chocolate Soft-serve Ice Cream (small) | 150 | 22g | 4g | 5g |
| Rice Krispies Treats | 90 | 18g | 1g | 2g |
WARNING: Although these foods are considered healthy, they should not be eaten everyday. If eaten in excess, these high carbohydrate cheat treats can turn into fat quickly.
Well, after exercising your brain, you deserve a lunch break, but you forgotyou had to finish a paper due worth 50% of your grade. You have exactly 30 minutes to eat and an hour and five minutes to finish your paper before it is due, because your instructor does not allow late work. You are extremely hungry and could eat a cow or two, but should you eat a big meal, especially at a time like this? You decide to...
The best choice would be to eat a small meal. Eating a big meal especially high in carbohydrates may send tryptophan to your brain, which in turn kicks up serotonin levels, leaving you feeling tired and lazy. Carbohydrates, lead to the release of insulin, which remove almost all the essential amino acids from the blood and drives them into muscles tissue, liver and basically all your other cells.The only essential amino acid somewhat unaffected is tryptophan.The trypophan remaining in the blood can find its way to the brain, where it can pass through a special brain barrier to the brain and influence the nervous system to increase serotonin, a chemical that can change your mood and have a very mild sedative effect.Simply, it makes you sleepy. One way to combat this effect is to eat protein along with carbohydrates. The protein competes for the same brain carrier system as tryptophan, which may decrease the amount of tryptophan in the brain resulting in a decreased amount of serotonin.
Whew, you finished the paper just in time and run to class only to find out that it is due next week. Well, now that you have some free time in your hands, you decide to go to the gym and workout some of that stress, but before you leave you eat a snack.What would be the best pre-workout snack to help you have a great workout?
The worst thing you can do for a pick me up is resort to a candy or soda. It is loaded with sugar, which gives you a temporary lift that’s followed by a longer crash. You are literally fueling fatigue.
The perfect energy snack has two components, complex carbohydrates, food in grains, fruits and vegetables and protein found in milk products, meats, beans and fish.
| CARBOHYDRATES | PROTEIN |
|---|---|
| Fruit chunks | Dipped in yogurt |
| Cold baked potatoes | Topped with nonfat cottage cheese |
| Whole wheat crackers | Topped with peanut butter |
| Bananas and chocolate syrup | Blended with skim milk and ice |
| Soft microwave-able pretzels | And string cheese |
| Toasted English muffin | Filled with tuna and hot sauce |
| Canned tomato soup | Made with skim milk instead of water |
| Trail mix of Cheerios, Wheat Chex, animal crackers, pretzels and dried fruit |
Eaten with glass of skim milk |
| Pancakes or waffles | Topped with maple syrup and yogurt |
| Popcorn | Topped with parmesan cheese |
| Bagel with tomato sauce | Topped with low-fat mozzarella cheese baked |
| Kaiser roll | Filled with lean roast beef |
| Whole wheat bread | Topped with baked beans |
| Flour tortillas | Filled with low-fat cheese and sliced jalapeno's |
| Pita bread | Stuffed with turkey |
| Pasta, mandarin orange and raisin salad | Topped with nonfat lemon yogurt |
| Raisin bread | Dipped in apple-spice yogurt |
