Eating healthy is one of the hardest habits to form these days, especially for young people who are on the go every single moment of the day. It is not at all an unusual thing to see college students chewing away at potato chips or chaats during their lunch break when they should be having wholesome meals.
Skipping breakfast and binging during dinner is also become widely popular among youths. Downing multiple cups of coffee and ordering take out has become an undeniable part of young people’s lives. It is expected that young adults and teens will not feel their best after eating copious amounts of unhealthy food. Most of them may feel groggy, bloated, and uncomfortable after a meal of fries and sodas. They might not notice it yet since their metabolism is at the peak but later down the road, it will prove to be disastrous for their physical and mental health.
The food you consume affects your moods and emotions as well. The overly caffeinated drinks that they consume tends to mimic certain symptoms of anxiety and the extra energy that they provide will crash in a short amount of time. Many people in the Western world are dependent on caffeine products and the Eastern Side of the world is catching up to them at an alarming speed.
The nutrition needs of the body are not met which can wreak havoc on the well being of bones, muscles, blood cells, and immunity. Studies have shown that teens with a low-quality diet are 80% more at risk of depression than teens with a well-balanced diet. Anyone who has seen a fair amount of Hollywood romantic comedies must have seen at least one instance of the female lead eating a whole tub of ice cream after a fight with her significant other or when she is feeling down.
Emotional eating is a very real thing and a very unhealthy thing. Mostly it will make you put on weight and fill you up with junk. People who gain weight or is on the bigger side tend to be insecure, of course, there are exceptions. Since most of them have a distorted body image of themselves, it is highly probable that they develop an eating disorder like Anorexia Nervosa or Bulimia Nervosa which is a major threat to one’s mental health.
It is about time that we sat down and have a long discussion with ourselves about the complicated relationship we have with food and make some changes.