Being healthy in college is hard. One reason for this is because of how easy it is to get sick in college (seriously, it’s ridiculous how often it happens) but it’s also because it’s hard to do the things you need to do to keep yourself healthy. A lot of them are ridiculously challenging, expensive, time-consuming, or just plain unreasonable. But I, through trial and error– and help from my mom– have figured out a few relatively simple, cheap, and reliable ways to help keep (and stay) healthy while in college.
1) Wash your dishes
This one is especially important for water bottles, tervises, coffee cups, mugs, and other dishware: if you use it daily, wash it weekly. Yes, it’s annoying. Yes, it’s easier to just keep using the same cup or bottle. Yes, it seems pointless, especially for water bottles. But it’s seriously important. All sorts of food, bacteria, and particles get into those dishes while you use them, even more so if they’re for drinks, and the longer you go without washing it out (with real dish soap, mind you) the more likely it will make you sick. So wash your dishes every so often, especially if you’re using them all day.
2) Take a Multivitamin
This one seems like a no-brainer, but a surprising amount of college students are unaware of the magical properties of a daily multivitamin. They have a ton of different kinds, but I generally find the basic ones are better, like the One-a-Day line. Taking one every morning or night just helps keep your immune system boosted. Some of them can even have extra goodies in them that can help other things like hair growth or sleep. Most off-brand vitamins are cheaper than their brand-name alternative, and trust me– if you can swing it, the price is worth it.
3) Change your Towel Every Week
Yeah, I know, I know– changing your towel that often isn’t easy. I get it. Changing towels every week means that you either have to buy twenty towels or do laundry every two weeks. But seriously, it’s worth it. First of all, towels are usually pretty full of bacteria, especially if they haven’t dried all the way when you use them again. That’s because generally dorm bathrooms aren’t the cleanest– I mean, with so many people using them, there’s no way they can be super clean. Plus your towel picks up dirt, sweat, and bacteria off of your own skin– yes, really– that can stay there until you use it the next time. That makes changing your towel especially important for avoiding acne, but it’s generally just a good idea to change your towel every week anyway.
4) Eat Breakfast
Listen: I get the breakfast issue. I used to be one of those people who didn’t eat breakfast and didn’t see how it was so important. I also had the latest lunch slot at my high school, and I became a true believer in the power of breakfast. I found that if I didn’t eat a good breakfast in the morning, by 10:30 I was hungry, brain dead, and exhausted. But when I ate breakfast, I stayed alert longer, I had more energy during the morning, and I didn’t end up eating an ungodly amount of food at lunch to compensate, so my weight stayed more stable. I felt better, I ate better, and I was way more alert through the whole day. So this goes for everyone, but especially those who have early classes or late lunches: eat breakfast if you can. And eat something real, not just a granola bar.
5) Take Naps
Okay, I know a lot of people probably tell you how important sleep is. I’m sure you know how important it is, so I won’t tell you to get more sleep, because I know sometimes you just can’t manage the perfect eight hours everybody tells you to get. Instead, I’ll remind you of the miracle of naps. A lot of college students think they can’t fit naps into their day. They are often wrong. There are so many good places to grab a catnap, and if you’re lucky, sometimes you can even make it back to your dorm for a good hour nap between classes or meetings. If you have the time, grab the nap– it’ll do more for you to get that sleep now, so that once you have to get up you have the energy to do the stuff you need to. If you have time, skip the extra studying– grab the nap, because you won’t be able to focus well anyway.
6) Take Care of Your Toothbrush
Somehow a lot of people don’t really do so well with toothbrushes. But they’re really important to take care of, because they can seriously get you sick. See, your toothbrush gets damp when you use it– and it’s just been in your mouth with old food, bacteria, and saliva. If you leave that damp toothbrush in a dark, closed off space, bad bacteria can grow. If you don’t change your toothbrush often enough, even if you store it well, the same can happen. Similarly, if you don’t change it after you’ve been sick– especially if you were sick with something concerning your stomach or throat– you can reinfect yourself. So keep your toothbrush out in the open, standing up, and change it every few months– or after you’ve been sick.
7) Take the Stairs
Look, I’ll be real right now: I’m generally the kind of girl who takes the elevator. It’s not that I have anything against stairs, it’s just that if the elevator is right there, I’ll take it. It’s easier, it’s quicker, and it’s a lot less work. But in college, I’ve found that it’s a lot harder to get exercise into my routine. But both last year and this year I’m on the third floor of my dorm building, and whenever I can, I take the stairs. It’s a good way to keep yourself a little more active– and, y’all, it’s great for steadily getting to the butt you’ve always dreamed of having.
8) Wipe down your room
Okay, if you haven’t discovered the miracle of Clorox wipes, I need you to go get some. Those bad-boys will disinfect and clean anything. They’re really effective on the surfaces in your room that you touch all the time– your laptop, your door handle, your desk, your bedside table, etc. Wipe those down about once a month, just to make sure nothing nasty is lingering in your room, and it’ll keep you healthier. Also it lets you marvel at the amount of dirt that was in your room without you realizing it, which is always gross/scary/interesting.
9) Clean your phone
Think about it: your phone gets nasty, y’all. You drop it on the floor. You throw it down on tables and such that you don’t know about. You put it up to your face and get dirt/bacteria/sweat/makeup on it. Your fingers are on it all the time, and your fingers are not the cleanest. (Sorry, it’s just fact.) That makes it a breeding ground for illness, and when your phone comes into such close contact with you– to your face, to your fingers, etc– it can make it easier to get sick. Wiping it down once a week with glass cleaner or something similar can really help. (Just make sure to verify that it can be used on your phone before you use it!)
10) Change your Contacts
If you’re someone who wears contacts, chances are they have a time limit for how long you’re supposed to wear them. Some people wear dailies, some wear 15 day pairs (like me,) and some wear them for even longer. If you have contacts that are to be worn for a set amount of days, pay attention to that number and change your contacts when they’re done. I’ve known plenty of people who take that number as a light suggestion, and it’s really not good for your eyes. Wearing contacts too long dries them out, which makes it much easier to get infections, styes, or things like pink eye. I get contacts are expensive, but it’s not worth it– change your contacts when you’re supposed to.
These tips are by no means professionally recommended. They’re just things I’ve learned or been taught during my time in college, and they’re generally pretty good at keeping me healthier. A lot of these things aren’t as well known for being important to maintaining health, so they’re easy to overlook.I hope these were helpful, and if you have a pro-tip I didn’t include here, feel free to share with us on social media!