After seeing my friend suffer from IBS (well not exactly seeing, but hearing from her), and my sister suffer from gallstones, and from my own kidney stones…I tried to look up information on how one can improve their diet to avoid these common GI (gastrointestinal) conditions. (well, kidney stones aren’t GI conditions - but they’re still related to diet)
Now, anyone can google and find out that hey…maybe I shouldn’t be eating scrambled eggs with cheese in breakfast, and instead replace with oatmeal to provide my diet with good fiber early in the morning.
Blah.
This is not why I come to you.
Many of us here are students. This thread is partially to create an awareness among the student population as to the importance of maintaining a healthy diet. The biggest factors for me, at least, which have driven me towards opting for fast-food and take-out are:
- Time
- Money
I don’t have a kitchen - I live at the college dorms. Having an apartment with a kitchen helps in this regard, but even so I lived in an apartment this summer with a kitchen and I still didn’t cook much on my own.
So, I can’t really cook my own food because of these two factors. Students are typically busy and they don’t have much money to begin with. So a fast value meal at Taco Bell or McDonald’s seems to be better. Even with more healthy options like Subway, one still thinks of money. Sometimes, I just find it more cheaper to grab a dollar burger instead of wait in line at Subway and wait as the slow worker takes their time to dress my sandwich.
Now, the other option is take-out, which can be healthier if you find the right resteraunt with the right prices.
After seeing these two dear people have their lives disrupted because of their unhealthy diets, I’ve pretty much stopped the fast-food. Now, I’m looking for quick and healthy options.
How is Chinese food for take-out - given that you can find a place that doesn’t put much msg (or maybe none) in their food?
I find Italian in general to be heavy – but if their food is taken in with garlic, it should help.
A quick thing I’ve found useful is green tea - easy and quick to make, and it helps with digestion of fats.
Increase in fruits - they’re handy and quick to eat and you can store them in your dorm fridge or have them in your fruit bowl in your apartment - and they’re great for digestion!
Replace unhealthy snacks, like chips, etc - with carrots, celery sticks - they’re easy to carry around, and you just put a few in a ziploc bag, and take them with you to work or when you’re running errands, etc.
Any other suggestions for good healthy take-out that is FAST! And filling?
And how well are YOU managing your diet?
I’ll come back with more health-related info - please keep this thread in Life1 - its about health, not cooking recipes.