As college move in day approaches I know I’m most likely not alone in my anticipation of multiple lifestyle changes shortly ahead. Aside from bracing myself for waking up before noon and studying books instead of my instagram feed, probably the most common change from living at home to living at school is the food. It is already difficult enough to eat healthy in general, but while going to school navigating the proper diet for maximum functioning is seemingly more important and simultaneously more elusive.
In general finding the proper information about diet is already a challenge to the average American. With pressure on young people to have their bodies looking a certain way we are often lured to strange diet fads that almost always result in a cycle of starving and binging. From low carb to restricting calories, most mainstream diet trends advise limiting consumption of nutrients in order to keep fat off of the body. Very few resources are finally exposing studies revealing the high carb low fat plant based lifestyle as the one best suited for the fruitavore anatomy of human beings.
Because the biological makeup of a human requires glucose to power each and every one of the trillions of cells in the body, fruit and carbs are the obvious energy sources we ought to consume. Besides the fact that animal based foods are produced through conditions which are detrimental to the environment and the animals providing them, numerous mysterious additives and unsanitary byproducts become unavoidable when consuming these products.
Some may still even be under the impression that humans are designed by nature to eat an omnivorous or carnivorous diet. However, a human’s digestive system is much longer than that of a carnivore, our teeth much flatter with a texture more suited to grinding of fruits rather than tearing of flesh and our natural pH balance set to a more alkaline tolerance unlike the acidic baseline of a carnivore. That being said most thoroughly researched findings, the ones not funded by a bias source such as the meat or dairy industries themselves, will tell us that a nearly-raw, plant based diet high in carbs is the ideal way to feed the human body.
That being said this lifestyle seems a tad daunting to a college student on a budget. Many people transitioning to this way of eating will start with the raw until four plan, where one consumes primarily raw fruits throughout the day and one cooked high carb meal in the evening. This requires an abundance of available produce at all times. The key to sustaining a lifestyle so low in concentrated fats and proteins is eating an abundance of high carb foods so to keep the body satiated and not craving junk. When we eat enough of the right foods there should not be a problem avoiding the wrong ones, as we will not be hungry for them.
At college it seems to be that it is easiest to do the exact opposite. Students on the go eat sporadically and often grab for something easy and cheap. Unfortunately this often means starving our body of the right foods depleting our cells of the proper nutrients. However, more and more people are proving it doesn’t have to be a challenge to eat healthy at home or on the go. Items like rice, potatoes, oats and bananas are cheap and always easy to come by, for example, nearly anywhere you travel. Theses types of foods have also been shown throughout history to sustain all of the major societies, even those very busy with daily tasks. When a student is pressed for time a simple fruit can suffice for a whole meal, but to ensure we are getting enough calories it is wise to buy in bulk rather than eating too little and binging later on non-foods that serve no nutritious purpose.
