A study in Australia confirms what we all should probably already know: A diet must consist of more than just Ramen noodles and Easy Mac.
The New York Daily News talked to Dr. Danielle Gallegos, who, along with Kai Wen Ong, studied 800 University students in Brisbane, Australia to monitor the long-term effects of a college diet consisting mostly of energy-dense foods and insta-meals.
The results were depressing: Some of those students who rely on such foods reported they felt constantly hungry, while others said they often experienced a sense of “food insecurity.” The physiological effects were even more dire. Gallegos and Ong determined that an unhealthy diet for younger students would leave them more susceptible later in life to such chronic diseases as diabetes, cancer and heart disease.
The larger lessons of this academic study parallel pretty much what your mother always told you: Eat your fruits and vegetables. Two-thirds of the students studied ate less than two servings of fruits per week.
Then again, when all your money’s going to tuition and housing, that doesn’t leave much money for organic ingredients.