Tomorrow's Pharmacist
2007:52-54
January 2007
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Eating well on a student budget |
By Pamela Mason |
When you are at university, it may be the first time in your life that you have lived away from home and had to look after yourself. Among the many challenges and excitements of student life, it is important to make food and healthy eating a high priority. Recent research has found that students, on average, put on 15 pounds of weight during their first year at university. Dietary surveys have also shown that young adults (not just students) often have low intakes of vitamins and minerals, with intake of iron, zinc, magnesium and copper being a particular cause for concern in young women. To feel alert, keep focused, get the best out of university and do well in your pharmacy degree it is important to eat healthy food. Living away from home for the first time is also an opportunity to think independently about your food and establish your own healthy habits in buying, storing and cooking food. According to the National Union of Students, the average student, with a maximum loan and paying full fees, has £28 a week to spend on food. However, a survey in Northern Ireland found that 37 per cent of first-year students spent less than £20 a week on food and eating out. Despite the financial constraints you face, work out a food budget and stick to it. That way you will not end the term limited to tins of soup. By the time you become a student, you should know what is meant by healthy eating, but just to recap, it means aiming for a wide variety of foods, with emphasis on starchy, carbohydrate-containing foods such as wholegrain bread, pasta, rice and potatoes, with at least five servings a day of fruit and vegetables. Avoid eating foods that are high in saturated (animal) fat and choose foods that provide monounsaturated fat (eg, olive oil, nuts, seeds and beans) and omega-3 fatty acids (eg, oily fish and nuts and seeds, particularly flaxseeds and walnuts). Do not forget dairy produce, but choose the lower fat varieties. As your budget allows, eat some lean meat (unless you are a vegetarian). Limit the amount of sugary and salty foods you eat. Drink plenty of fluid, but limit your alcohol intake and avoid binge drinking. Keep active and aim to be a healthy weight. Try to cook as much of your own food as possible. Although it takes time to buy and prepare food, it is time well spent for your health. It is also something you can do with your friends. Get ideas from one another and share cooking. Variety in meals and snacks is important. You will get bored if you eat the same things all the time. Get recipes and cooking tips from the internet and experiment with different ingredients. Plan what meals you are going to eat and as much as you can, stick to your plan. Try and eat breakfast. If you do not have breakfast you are more likely to snack mid-morning on high calorie foods such as crisps, biscuits and doughnuts. Having breakfast will also help you to keep more alert during the morning. Most breakfast cereals have vitamins and minerals added during their manufacture (check labels). Research has shown that youngsters who eat breakfast cereals are less likely to have a poor intake of essential micronutrients. However, try to avoid cereals that are high in sugar. Porridge made from unrefined oats is nutritious and quick to make. It is a source of slow release carbohydrate (ie, it has a low glycaemic index), which could help to keep your blood sugar steady and help you to stop feeling hungry during the morning.
Keep vegetable cooking water and use tough outer edges and stalks of green vegetables in soups. Get someone to buy you a liquidiser for a present. Soup prepared with a liquidiser is cheap, nutritious, quick-to-make and once you have experimented, tasty as well. Use canned or packet soups as a base and/or add stock cubes, herbs and spices. Stock your food cupboard with ingredients that have a reasonable shelf-life, are cheap and nutritious and quick and easy to cook. These include pasta, rice, couscous, tinned fish (eg, tuna and sardines) cans of tomatoes, beans (all kinds, including baked beans) and lentils. Breakfast cereals are a great standby for all times of the day (and night). Make a shopping list, and try to shop at local markets. Fruit and vegetables are considerably cheaper in markets than superstores, particularly if you shop at the end of the day on your way home from lectures. Share information with friends on food bargains. Take advantage of special offers everywhere. Look for brands owned by the supermarket, which can be considerably cheaper than the well-known brands. Buy as much as you can in bulk and share with friends. Fruit and vegetables, including dried fruit, seeds (eg, sunflower and pumpkin seeds) and nuts, low fat yogurts and fromage frais, cheese and crackers or bread are healthy snacks that you can carry around in your backpack. Remember that nuts, seeds and cheese are high in fat, and therefore calories, so eat them in moderation. University dining halls provide many choices and can help you to maintain good nutrition. Try to make healthy choices from the menus. This might mean combining foods from different sections of the dining hall, for example, a piece of grilled chicken with a salad and a chunk of bread rather than chips. Choose appropriate portions; food portions in restaurants are getting bigger. When in the dining hall, take small portions and fill up on fruit and vegetables if you are prone to putting on weight. Healthy eating is especially important when you are under stress. When you are staying up late to revise for examinations or meet deadlines for essays, it is easy to skip meals and forget about healthy eating. But this is the time you need to concentrate. If you rely on unhealthy snacks and takeaway food, you may not be able to keep focused. Such foods offer poor nutritional value and may leave you feeling hungry again quickly. • Establish a food budget and stick to it Enjoy your food, share with friends and establish healthy eating patterns for life. When you qualify as a pharmacist you will have responsibility for encouraging patients to eat healthily. Learn now how to set a good example. Food Standards Agency Fresher food A student survival guide to food |
Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables. Stick to those
that are in season in the UK. In many cases they will be cheaper and
also kinder to the
environment than imported varieties transported by air. When you
have got your fruit and vegetables home store them, if possible, in a
fridge
and keep an eye on them for spoilage; use them before they go off.