American Business woman Bethenny Frankel once said, “your diet is a bank account, good food choices are good investments.” Whether it is just another day of school or the stressful exams day, eating healthy food keeps one focused to beat any kind of stress.

At a time when few students are gearing up for upcoming winter term finals, here are some of the healthy food choices that can be handy when you are immersed in studying and have no time to decide on the right food. 

According to the Healthline, the nutrients that keep our body fit are vitamins, proteins, fats, dietary fibers and minerals. Peter Mierweinski, the nutrition coach at the Ray Meyer Fitness and recreation center echoed this philosophy. 

“Optimal health can only be achieved by eating a healthy diet, low in fat, high in fiber, minimal processed food focused on starches with the addition of fruits and vegetables,” Mierweinski said. “With high amount of starches, which has glucose in it, we give our body its preferred fuel source.”

Mierweinski stated that students can have a strong immune system if they limit the consumption of oil and high fat foods. Instead,  they should eat whole natural foods like grains, colorful fruits and vegetables.  

Talking about some of the food pairings that are a mixture of all or one two nutrients, Mierwinski suggested a combination of dark green vegetables with legumes, a rich nutrient that is any plant from Fabaceae family like peas, black beans or Garbanzo beans, pastas with marinara sauce, and whole grain breads with tomatoes lycopene. Lycopene is a bright red carotenoid hydrocarbon found in tomatoes and other red fruits and vegetables.  

He went on to add examples of food that are also enriched with nutrients. Such as hot foods, different types of salad, marinated tofu, steamed or baked potatoes and minestrone soup. 

The students also shared their preferences. 

“Lots of protein shakes and protein bars, sandwich, meat and rice, chicken, rich avocado and beans with cheese in a bowl and some snacks every now and then keeps me focused during exams,” said Gian Ramirez, a freshmen of accounting. “I even drink a lot of water to keep myself hydrated.”

“For vitamins, I usually like eating lasagna, spaghetti and frosted cakes, and it serves as a motivator for me to study,” said  Zainab Ibrahim, Freshman health sciences major. 

On similar lines, junior business management major Fajar Malik who had her midterms finished recently talked about her favorite foods to eat.

“During the exams time, I eat a lot of healthy fats like nuts, pistachio, yogurt eggs on toast because it helps with my brain,” Malik said.

Even freshman engineering major Lavanya Das said that she likes to eat her favorite noodles and hot sour soup with music playing in the background. These meals contain vitamins, fats and fiber. 

Mierwinski tells the students that they have access to good, healthy options at the student dining hall. He mentioned that he regularly checks with the chef of the dining hall about the food they have for the day.

“The key is to focus on the foods that are high in nutrient density and low in calorie density will help the students perform best in exams and boost their immune system,” Mierwinski said.   

Water is also essential for maintaining good health.

“There is a general guideline to drink 8 cups of water, but in reality, the amount of water everyone should drink varies depending on age, climate, health issues,” Mierwinski said. “Water is the only thing that satisfies our thirst drive and I encourage people to drink when they have the urge and not force in more water.”

March is the month of finals, and the fitness team at The Ray has many events scheduled for the remainder of winter quarter1. The events are lunch with a nutrition coach, meal prepping, asking a nutrition coach and nutrition cook along on March 1, 7, 9 and 14 respectively.       

Coupled with putting good food into our body, we also need to get a good amount of  exercise even if it is just walking for 30 minutes a day and a restful sleep,” Mierwinski said.