Going back to our childhood, we can easily get to the roots of our relationship with food and the subsequent emotions. Ask your parents, as they have yet another interesting anecdote where they offered you a sweet so that you would just finish your meal, which comprised of food that you didn’t like but somehow swallowed it for the sweet that followed (not a good habit, but pretty effective it seems, at least in retrospect).
On entering college, emotions take a heavy toll on us and healthy food is often rarely a concern. From skipping breakfast to be on time for your 8 am lecture to staying up until 4 am to complete your assignments because you just realised that the due date is tomorrow. Through such emotional upheaval and times of continuous changes, food is our only (and often) unhealthy constant.
Your emotions are all a work of hormone imbalance; the happy hormone being serotonin, a trigger release from what we decide to put into our mouths (and something that we often end up neglecting).
Sugar
Sugar intakes could be through ice cream, chocolates, and artificial sweeteners (usually found in caffeine-based beverages). High intake showed toxic effects on our mental health (as explained by noted British psychiatric researcher Malcolm Peet), being that when blood glucose levels are elevated, it can suppress the production of a protein known as BDNF. So the next time you pick that ice cream bucket, spare a sugar cube for a thought.
Alcohol
Alcohol affects your central nervous system, which further affects your emotions. In the short term, it may generate euphoria, but in the bigger picture, it definitely is a sad song.
Caffeine and Fast Food
Our forefathers often told us to restrict our fast food and caffeine intake, but what all of them forgot to tell us was that line we should have drawn (often termed as the limit). Fast food and Caffeine raise red flags all over our digestive system. Caffeine is more likely to be a concern for a university student who often tends to find solutions to “deadlines” by slurping down coffee and an easy snack.
The Difference Between Being a Food Lover and Having a Food Disorder
The idea here isn’t to promote anything extreme but to realise the line between loving food and being addicted to it. Though the ideal diet may vary from person to person and depends on the kind of physical rigours you need to put yourself through on a daily basis, one should not confuse any irregularity with food simply as love for it and continue with it until it blows out of proportion.
Rather, it is beneficial to discuss with your parents or doctors and understand your ideal diet. This will help you channel your emotions and understand what might truly help you out than the craving for something that might eventually aggravate the condition.