Freshers’ is notoriously not the ideal time to establish healthy habits, but now that eating free Domino’s pizza for breakfast and post night out binges no longer seem so acceptable on a daily basis here are some tips to start your year off the right way with your food.
- Start simple with some store-cupboard essentials.
It may not be the most exciting part of your meal but it’s definitely the easiest starting point for building simple, wholesome and tasty. The perks of tinned or dried essentials are that they last forever so you can bulk buy them when you are at a cheaper supermarket and have them available whenever – not to mention many of these staples are particularly fibre-rich, essential for longevity and gut microbe functioning. Some essentials include:
- Chickpeas
- Red kidney beans
- Wholegrain oats
- Rice
- Whole wheat pasta
- Cous cous
Just as fibre-rich but not as store-cupboard friendly are ingredients such as sweet potatoes, butternut squash and carrots. Of course, this is not the only way to organise your cooking but adding a balanced mixture of colourful fruit or vegetables, healthy fats (such as nuts, seeds, fish, avocado or probiotic yoghurt), or proteins (such as greens like broccoli or sugar snap peas, meat, lentils) is a fool proof way to achieve a meal that will inevitably be beneficial for your diet. So, even when your fridge is looking particularly empty, having some of these essentials at hand will be great for maintaining healthy habits – and not ordering takeaway!
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- Stock up on some spice staples that you can easily incorporate into your meals.
Not only will these enhance the flavour of your meals and make them more visibly appealing but there is a proven benefit to including certain spices in your daily cooking. It is important to consider positive effects can never be attributed to a single ingredient alone but instead as a feature of a good diet, but it is undeniable that the inclusion of spices have positive, medicinal like benefits upon your health.
Ginger – If you can deal with the particular and pungent flavour, ginger is a handy kitchen staple. Ginger contains a host of antioxidants responsible for benefits such as reducing nausea, muscle soreness and aiding recurrent indigestion. Struggling with a sore throat post Freshers’? Boiling water with ginger, lemon and honey is a great calming cure. Grate it onto any Asian style salad or noodle dish that needs some extra flavour. Or, if fresh ginger is too much for your taste buds, try including ginger paste in a curry.
Cinnamon – Admittedly cinnamon is a lot trickier to include in savoury meals but there are still many ways to reap the benefits it has upon the metabolic syndrome (blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar) and its anti-inflammatory properties. This aromatic spice is an ideal accompaniment for a bowl of porridge with honey or sprinkled on top of toast with peanut butter and banana as a snack. If you are an avid cinnamon lover try it with sweet potato, in tagines or as a topper to a bowl of soup.
(https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/cinnamon-porridge/430200d4-6231-450d-a5…)
Garlic – It may seem obvious and an overly simplistic feature of daily cooking, but garlic has been proven to demonstrate both anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties. Furthermore, it may have a positive impact upon gut microbe populations which plays an important role in the immune system and aids digestion. So, if you’re feeling a little under the weather, it’s just too easy not to incorporate garlic into your cooking.
- Sleepy? Up your Iron!
If your post Freshers’ week feeling is that you do not see a day you may be able to get through without a nap, then introduce some more iron rich foods into your diet. For example: lentils, nuts, leafy greens, seeds, tofu and beans are all great sources. Absorption of iron varies from person to person, if you are continuously and unexplainably fatigued it may be wise to get your iron levels checked by a doctor, but if you just need to boost energy levels these foods are a good place to start.
- It’s not just what you eat…
University is a tricky place to maintain a perfectly regimented routine but setting some achievable aspirations regarding food is wise. Defining your hours of eating so that you are not eating too late at night nor fasting throughout the day is a good habit to establish. Further to this, eating in the same place (preferably at the table, if your student house accommodates) is useful as it creates a specific set space to eat. Handy, but not always possible, is to then save any leftovers in Tupperware for the next day. This organises lunch for the next day and prevents having to splash out in a University café, saving some much-needed cash following the Freshers’ splurge.