North Texas Daily

We all know about the “Freshman 15” and all the unhealthy habits that come with being a college student, but we often do nothing about it. You can’t really blame us — our schedules are packed, we’re exhausted by the time we have free time to hit the gym and we most definitely don’t have budgets to shop at Whole Foods for our grocery runs.

I too almost began to give up on my health quest, feeling defeated by all the obstacles we face, but then I did some deep diving into the online world of health. I know you’re probably thinking, “Here we go with some GOOP — like gibberish (niche reference).” And, you wouldn’t be completely wrong.

On a more serious note though, it’s never too early to start taking care of your body especially when there’s cheap and easy ways to do it.

A cup of tea

Even if you’re more of a coffee person, replacing your morning cup of joe for a nourishing cup of tea makes a nice little difference in your body’s health and your overall morning attitude. Some teas that are excellent to begin and end your day with are lemon ginger (I use the brand Bigelow) and decaffeinated green tea.

Lemon ginger tea is a great probiotic and therefore great for the digestive system. But, if you feel that you still need that extra jolt of caffeine in the morning, you can go with a cup of Victorian Earl Grey tea.

This will not only calm you at the end of a long day, but it will surprisingly help with your dental hygiene through its ability to destroy bad bacteria in the mouth.

Meditation

Before you stop reading this article or exit of out this page because you’ve seen the word meditation come up, please resist the urge. At this point you are probably rolling your eyes, but just hear me out.

Meditation means something different to everyone that does it. For some it can be an hour in the morning as they sit around candles and listen to a taped rainforest. For others, it can be five to ten minutes in the morning of simply sitting still and mindless. No matter what your meditation process is, the simple act of it is proven to reduce stress and calm anxiety, which are all benefits that are especially important for college students.

Probiotic foods

Let’s face it, most of us eat junk food at least twice a week during the school year. Though it would be best to start trying to cook more in your week, another great way to help break down the crap we chow down on is through probiotics. I know — more probiotic talk. I just can’t get enough and they are an important part of good gut health. Although there are probiotic supplements, you should probably refrain from taking those and try to stick to the food forms of probiotics.

Foods that contain high amounts of probiotics are kimchi, yogurt, sourdough bread and sauerkraut.  These are all relatively inexpensive items at the grocery and can have a great affect to your health when added to the daily diet. Be sure not to overload your system though, and check with your doctor before you add any type of probiotic pill supplement to your diet.

Dark chocolate

I’m not going to lie, eating chocolate is one of the best parts of my day. It’s my favorite dessert and frankly, it’s simply amazing. But what I didn’t realize was how much chocolate was attacking my skin and my blood sugar. Begrudgingly, I decided to go cold turkey and cut out all the sweets in my life. Spoiler alert: those were the darkest days ever.

I soon realized I couldn’t live without chocolate and discovered the miracle of dark chocolate. Unfortunately, I’m not talking about the tasty Midnight Milky Ways I used to sneak out of my grandparent’s pantry as a kid. I’m referring to the not-so-well-loved 72 percent cacao dark chocolate. You might find it a little bitter at first, but it’s still chocolate. It also only has about 7 grams of sugar, has been found to lower blood pressure and is loaded with antioxidants.

Featured Image: Courtesy Facebook.