Reasons You Should Not Be Too Obsessed With Junk Food As A Student

According to a popular saying, “health is wealth”. A healthy mind is a wealthy mind. As a student, your health is important to your academic endeavour. Being healthy is inextricably interwoven with your academic success. One of the ways you can maintain a healthy life on campus is by eating good food and exercise well. However, in your choice of food, you should stay away from too much indulgence in junk food.

Junk food has been defined as “those commercial products, including candies, bakery food, ice creams, salty snacks, and soft drinks”. These species of food have little or no nutritional value, but they are abound with numerous calories, salt and fats. Thus, when you consume them, you’re, perhaps, exposing yourself to unhealthiness.

Studies have shown that these chop-on-the-go foods have increased childhood obesity, heart disease, diabetes and other chronic diseases. Funnily enough, these varieties of food are the ones students in Nigerian higher institutions take as favourites and everyday diets.

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Also, a source has analysed that junk or fast foods cause damage to the brain. A study which was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition is 2011 explained that healthy people who are too obsessed with junk food perform woefully on conginitive tests that measure attention, speed and mood. The study emphasised that eating junk food for 5 days in a row can deteriorate memory. Why? Junk foods are sugary and diets that are high in sugar and fats can affect the activity of the brain.

As a student, the food you take must be nutritional to avoid health hazard. Adding more nutritional food to your diet will help a long way to maintain a healthy weight.

Also, eating good fruits and vegetables should be prioritised by students. Fruits and vegetables contain important vitamins, minerals and fibre which protect you against cancer, diabetes and heart diseases.

All in all, my experience as an undergraduate has revealed to me that 60% of students love to eat fast or junk food particularly during the exam period. In fact, some take these foods almost on a daily basis because they are too weary to cook. However, they have forgotten that good food is even important for you to digest what you read easily. Therefore, eating good food should not be compromised for it is when one is healthy, one thinks about reading or sits in the exam hall.