A HEALTHY BODY

Let’s face it -- being a college student can be extremely stressful. From balancing academics, work, social life, extracurriculars, and all the other things we do, it is sometimes difficult to find a time to eat and find pleasure in food. In order to make your body work as efficiently as possible, it is important that busy and stressed students are properly fueled- food functions have this essential fuel! Unfortunately, the crazy schedule of student life often leads students to eat whatever they can easily grab on the run, to skip meals or to over-eat when dealing with stress. Life is crazy and these are totally understandable scenarios, but in order to make your body function optimally under the most pressured situations, it is important to fuel-up with the right kinds of foods! 

How Nutrition Can Benefit Your Mental Health

Food & Mood Connectivity 

• Studies in the 2010s have repeatedly shown a pattern of good eating habits creating more likelihood for good mental health and unhealthy eating habits creating a higher chance of mental illness.
• Healthy eating habits can boost brain health and increase the growth in your brain's cells.
• Poor eating is also associated with lower grades, susceptibility to illness, and increased fatigue. Other side effects include a higher risk of depression, anxiety, irritability, difficulty concentrating, menstrual problems, and sleep disturbances.

The Science Behind Food & Mood 

• Eating healthy food promotes the growth of “good” bacteria, which in turn positively affects neurotransmitter production. A steady diet of junk food, on the other hand, can cause inflammation that hampers production. When neurotransmitter production is in good shape, your brain receives these positive messages loud and clear, and your emotions reflect it. But when production goes awry, so might your mood.
• Sugar, in particular, is considered a major culprit of inflammation, plus it feeds “bad” bacteria in the GI tract. Ironically, it can also cause a temporary spike in “feel good” neurotransmitters, like dopamine, which later leads to what people refer to as a “sugar crash.”
• When you stick to a diet of healthy food, you’re setting yourself up for fewer mood fluctuations, an overall happier outlook and an improved ability to focus. Studies have even found that healthy diets can help with symptoms of depression and anxiety. Unhealthy diets have been linked to an increased risk of dementia or stroke.

Examples of Good-for-Your-Mood Foods

• Fiber
  • ​Fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains
• Antioxidants (inflammation fighters)
  • ​Berries, leafy green vegetables, turmeric, salmon, black chia seeds, dark chocolate
• Folate (B vitamins that help with dopamine production)
  • ​Leafy green vegetables, lentils, cantaloupe
• Vitamin D (helps with the production of serotonin)
  • ​Mushrooms
• Magnesium (helps with food-mood connection & nerve/ muscle function)
  • ​Dark chocolate, cacao nibs, almonds, cashews, spinach, bananas, beans
• Fermented Foods (packed with probiotics)
  • ​​sauerkraut, kimchi, miso, tempeh, kombucha

Balance Between Healthy Eating and Intuitive Eating

What is Intuitive Eating?​​​

• Intuitive Eating is choosing foods that sound best to you, eating when you are hungry and stopping when you are full. I know this sounds like a duh moment, but most of us don’t eat this way. We choose foods based on labels and nutrient content, often eat when we aren’t hungry and ignore signs of fullness. An intuitive eater is defined as a person who “makes food choices without experiencing guilt or an ethical dilemma, honors hunger, respects fullness and enjoys the pleasure of eating.”
• Intuitive eating works when there isn’t any restriction on foods. Which is where the intersection of healthy comes into play. Essentially, intuitive eating allows for all foods regardless of calories, sugar content and fat grams. So, that means that you have permission to eat both a caesar salad and the chocolate cupcake. Which isn’t exactly traditional advice on most ‘diets.’
  

Nutrition Tips

Make Time to Eat!

• If you ever find a time where you are super busy and don’t think you have time to eat, allocate time in your calendar or planner for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. When doing this, it is important to remember, you can have flexibility for when you eat these meals. It doesn’t have to be at the same time everyday.
• If you know you won’t have time the day before to make a meal or go to the dining commons, consider meal prepping the day before or a few days in advance! Then you could just grab and go.
  

Hydrate don't Diedrate

• It is important to always hydrate yourself throughout the day, especially if you are super busy and on the run.
  
• Invest / purchase a reusable water bottle! Help save the planet & you can also refill at water stations all throughout campus.

Stress Eating

• It is completely normal to turn to snacking when you are stressed. For example, you are studying at the library for multiple hours and you make a trip down to the arbor to get some chips and candy. You bring those snacks back and eat them all before you leave the library. This is completely normal! Just remember everything is important in moderation.
  
• ​If you find you overeat when stressed, it may be helpful to stop what you’re doing when the urge to eat arises, and to write down your feelings.
  

Food Resources on Campus 

• AS Food Bank 
• CalFresh & Food Security Peer Advisors 
• Miramar Food Pantry
• Food Not Bombs
  
• Food, Nutrition, and Basic Skills Program with Health & Wellness
  
• Basic Needs Task Force

Places to Grocery Shop in IV & Goleta 

Isla Vista 

• IV Food Co-op 
• IV Market 
• Tenaya Market

Goleta 

• Spouts 
  
• Albertsons
  
• Costco 
  
• Target 
  
• Smart & Final 
  
• Trader Joe’s 
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