We’ve all heard the term “brain food” before, but as students, it can mean more than we think. Food high in refined sugars are linked to stress, impaired brain function and depression, according to health.harvard.edu.

College students can be tight on time, money and food resources. It’s fairly easy at UNF to stop into Chick-fil-a, Outtakes or Starbucks and get a quick between-class snack, but are these the best options for your brain health?

Luckily, you don’t have to completely cut out fried and sugary foods from your diet in order to keep your brain function healthy. Just try to limit your intake instead. Martha Morris, a nutritionalist at Rush University, tweaked an already existing diet to optimize brain health, according to an article written by Kayt Sukel titled “How To Nurture Your Mind.”

The tweaked diet, the “MIND diet”, emphasizes eating greens, veggies, berries and even drinking wine.  “MIND diet” doesn’t require you to cut out any food groups, unlike most diets. The diet insists on lowering the amount of sweets and fried foods you ingest. This makes the diet easily accessible for college students.

Fried and sugary foods have also been linked to a higher risk of Alzheimers and Dementia, according to healthline.com. Morris studied 923 people in a retirement home in Chicago in order to ensure the “MIND diet” was optimal for brain health. She assigned the Mediterranean , Dash and MIND diets to randomized groups. Morris found that the “MIND diet” outperformed others and lowered the risk for Alzheimers by 53 percent, according to Sukel.

It might be hard to find veggies, berries and greens all the time as a college student. Here are some steps you can take to better the process.

• Go for the healthier options in dining hall.
• Drink water in replacement of soda.
• Keep healthy food in your dorm.
• Eat more superfoods that are lower in price, such as apples or avocados.

These steps, and more, can be found on moneycrashers.com.

Eating healthy in college can be difficult, but it’s important for both your mental and physical health. Maybe opt for Chop’d and Wrap’d the next time you need a between-class snack.

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