Stephanie Niknam, Contributing Writer
Hippocrates once said, “Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food.” I agree with Hippocrates; food is the fuel that all humans need to function, and a lot of our medical ailments can be relieved by eating healthy foods. It can be difficult to learn what foods are healthy, and this challenge is definitely presented to college students.
There are healthy options in all of the dining halls and at the convenience stores, but there are also plenty of unhealthy options that could result in weight gain, like the “Freshman 15.” I attended the Oneonta Cancer Support Group’s Nutrition and Natural Healing Presentation hoping to learn more about the body, and how it can function better from certain foods. However their presentation left much to be desired.
At the Natural Healing Presentation, I learned that the common symptoms most people occasionally feel, like fatigue, headaches, pains, or aches, are not just symptoms, but are all interconnected with organ dysfunction and nutritional deficiency. These symptoms can be traced back to one source, and that source is sugar. They never specified if they meant refined sugar, so I am left to believe that they meant all forms of sugar. I took a quiz to see if I am “sugar addicted” where I was asked if I eat sugar every day, and if I crave sugar, coffee, or alcohol. It was no surprise to learn that I am a “sugar addict,” which means that I am most likely addicted and allergic to all sugar. So, after learning this life changing information, the presenter suggested cutting out all forms of sugar and drinking plenty of water. The Natural Improvement Center also taught us about natural healing, but it seemed like just a way to advertise for their healing center. They finished their presentation with a brief question and answer session in which many confused audience members confronted the Natural Improvement Center with questions regarding their health and nutrition.
After reading about their presentation, I hope everyone understands why I am so skeptical to believe everything I was told there. Within a period of an hour, I was told that in order to be a healthy person, all I had to do was cut all of my sugar intake, and drink plenty of water. They never encouraged us to eat fruits, vegetables, or any healthy sources of protein, which people need in order to survive and function. I’m sure refined sugars are unhealthy and probably do negatively impact the human body but, it is impractical to believe that college students are going to completely stop consuming them. I do believe that it is important to drink a lot of water, to eat fruits and vegetables, and to lessen the amount of refined sugar we all consume.
As a college student, it is easy to forget this important lesson: that our bodies need healthy foods to give us energy, and that it is all up to us to properly feed ourselves. We can all feel the positive impacts on our bodies if we make these healthy lifestyle choices.
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