Healthy Student Tips: Stop Kidding Yourself!

Ever found yourself making excuses for your Haribo addiction, claiming that it’s textbook ‘Rainbow Food Diet’? Or do you pass off nipping down the road for fish and chips as the perfect way to get your fuller-for-longer carbs and Omega-3 fatty acids? Then you should probably step away from the fork and read on for the myths that we all wish were true, but really, really aren’t…

Myth #1: Fruit Pastilles are one of your five-a-day

Yes, they are an explosion of tangy, fruity flavours. What’s that? They’re made with real fruit juice as well? Why am I still gorging on fresh strawberries and fruit salads, when I could get the vitamin C content of one of my 5-a-day in just 12 packets?! Oh. It’s because I’d also be consuming 2244 calories and six times my daily sugar allowance.

Myth #2: I’m trying to get my daily eight pints of liquid. Beer, anyone…?

We need a decent amount of water every day to keep everything ticking along; the popular doctor recommendation is eight pints per day. Caffeine-free teas and coffees, juice and squash can contribute to this. Alcohol, unfortunately, does not fall under that bracket. If it did, we’d all have glowing skin and bright eyes after Quids Night at the pub. Instead, alcohol is actually a diuretic – when you ‘break the seal’, it’s because your body is trying to get rid of the toxins through urine. Along with the five glasses of water you proudly managed to drink that day.

Myth #3: Coffee, Red Bull and Bourbons are the ideal all-nighter diet

How many times have you hit the library with 12 hours to thrash out 6,000 words, all in the dead of night? How often has this stint involved equal parts of coffee and red bull, and a family-size packet of biscuits? While this regime will no doubt get a laugh from the housemates, your insides will not be laughing. That excessive caffeine hit will cause shaking, distraction, and a Third. The sugary biscuits won’t help any of the above, and will also leave your stomach bloated and your head aching. Much better to nibble on nutrition-packed nuts and fruit to give you a more controlled energy boost.

Myth #4: Super Noodles with Tabasco sauce will eventually catch on

They have done no such thing yet, and probably never will. Adding Tabasco to your Thai Green Curry variety does not make you a Michelin chef, either.

Myth #5: Smarties sandwiches are acceptable lunchbox material

A Lincolnshire mother recently felt it appropriate to send her little angel to school with this sugar explosion, and it does not take a genius to see where she went wrong. In fact, NHS health workers found this ‘horrifying’, which is probably closer to the mark. If you fancy a tube of Smarties, go for it. Just don’t have them for lunch in a white bread, buttered sandwich with a side of salt and vinegar crisps.