On Tuesday, October 7th, BC welcomed Dr. Roxanna Prichard to campus for an event to educate college students about the importance of eating right and sleeping enough. Dr. Prichard is a sleep expert from St. Thomas University, and she displayed right before us how effective her advice was. She was an enthusiastic speaker, wide-awake throughout her presentation, and on point with all of her witty advice. She clearly practices what she preaches, thus it was a presentation that was informative and worthwhile.
Throughout the event, Dr. Prichard kept referencing the importance of steering clear of energy drinks. Contrary to what most college students think, the ingredients in most energy drinks are not regulated by the FDA. Therefore, it is important to stay away from the detrimental effects that these drinks can have on your health, such as: sleep deprivation, heart palpitations, tremor/shaking, agitation, and chest pain. Caffeine that most students consume at least once a day also has similar effects and can heighten anxiety and depression.
As far as eating goes, Dr. Prichard recommends a diet primarily based from plants. She kept saying, “eat real food,” meaning food that only has one ingredient and isn’t so processed. Basically what we have all been told since we were kids: eat your fruits and vegetables people! She also said something quite funny about consuming meat, “The less legs on the animal, the better.” That means fish are best, followed by chicken and turkey, while pigs and cows fall father to the end.
In my opinion, one of the most interesting parts of the entire event was that Dr. Prichard kept highlighting the importance that we need sleep to live. Without sleep, we would die, but no one really thinks about that when they are pulling an all-nighter to get their research paper done. That’s not to say that one all-nighter will kill you either, but Dr. Prichard presented us with multiple cases of people passing away from extreme sleep deprivation.
A few quick pieces of advice straight from this sleep expert:
1) Get 8 hours of sleep a night
2) No caffeine after 3 pm
3) Do not go to sleep drunk
4) Eat plants!
Dr. Prichard provided some really simple, yet vital information. Sleep is necessary for all human beings; therefore, we need to make sleeping a priority. To really bring her point home, she ended the night with a story about her students at St. Thomas University. Before they take an exam, Dr. Prichard presents her students with a challenge. In the seven days leading up to the exam, the students must get a minimum of seven hours of sleep a night, and be able to prove to her that they did (through the sleep cycle app). If they complete this challenge, they are awarded 5 bonus points on the exam. Interestingly enough, Dr. Prichard reports that the students who do complete this challenge do significantly better on the test than the students who do not get adequate sleep the week before. This can be attributed to the fact that our brains really learn when we are sleeping by consolidating the information we study the day before.
If you have any questions about sleep quality and eating right, be sure to email the Boston College Office of Health Promotion at healthpromotion@bc.edu.
Happy eating and sleeping!
Photo Sources
http://sciencebasedpharmacy.wordpress.com/2011/01/06/energy-drinks/
http://customcomfortmattress.com/blog/sleep/sleep-pretty/
http://www.thebettermom.com/2011/10/20/6-tips-for-saving-money-on-health…