Healthy Eating

(1) Meal prep

Setting aside a few hours on a Sunday can be a game changer for organising your food for the week.

This can mean making meals to reheat or if you prefer not to eat the same thing a few days in a row you can prep your ingredients and use them in several different dishes, this might involve marinating meat or peeling and chopping vegetables to have them ready to use.

Dishes like chilli, curry, stew and soup are great options for meal prep as they reheat well from being frozen. Freezing in small containers is useful as you can microwave the portions individually as needed rather than having a huge portion that takes hours to defrost.

See safe foods guide on storing food safely (opens in a new window)https://www.safefood.net/Food-Safety/Storing-food-safely

(2) Buy in bulk

Buying pantry staples like pasta and rice are cheaper when bought in large quantities and are suitable to bulk buy as they have long expiry dates.

(3) Choose the right supermarkets

Lidl and Aldi are far cheaper than other supermarkets like Tesco and Dunnes

Some options of locations for food shopping near UCD include:

• Stillorgan- Lidl and Tesco. The 155, 145 and 46A are bus routes from UCD to Stillorgan.
• Dundrum- Lidl and Tesco. The S6 bus route goes to and from Dundrum to UCD.
• The Merrion Shopping Centre- Tesco. The 47 bus route will take you from UCD to The Merrion.
• Blackrock Shopping Centre- Aldi. The S6 bus goes from UCD to Blackrock.
  
  

(4) Commuter breakfasts and exam dinners

The UCD SU (opens in a new window)commuter breakfasts in conjunction with Healthy UCD provide free breakfasts on Wednesday mornings to those who have long commutes to college.

Healthy UCD partner with UCD SU to provide (opens in a new window)dinners for students during exam time. More on this closer to exams.

Our 5 Top Healthy Eating Tips

(1) Aim to get 5-7 portions of fruit and veg a day

Fibre keeps our bowel habits regular, reducing constipation and helps keep us fuller for longer. 

Simple ways to boost your fibre intake include consuming 5-7 portions of fruits and vegetables per day, increasing your intake of wholegrains, and adding plant protein foods sources high in fibre into your diet, such as beans, chickpeas and lentils.

Fruit can be added as a topping to a lot of meals and snacks. Try adding it on top of porridge, cereal or yogurts. For a savoury option, try topping your wholegrain toast with some veg such as mushrooms or tomatoes or bulk up your omelet with a variety of veg.

Take your existing recipes and modify them to include more fruit and veg. For example, add blueberries to your pancake recipe or a variety or mixed veg to a pasta sauce.

(opens in a new window)Here is more information on fibre.

(2) Limit processed foods

Food processing involves any process that turns fresh food into a food product. Food is processed for a variety of reasons including, to make the food digestible, to extend the shelf life or to add vitamins and minerals back to the food (fortification).

Some processed foods contain excess saturated fat, refined sugars, salt, are calorie dense and provide little fibre. These foods should be limited to maintain a healthy diet.

Eating a variety of plant foods, limiting processed meats (for example, sausages, salami, rashers, chorizo) as much as possible and eating wholegrains (for example, oats, quinoa, buckwheat, brown rice) are a few steps you can take to limit your processed food intake.

(3) Hydrate adequately

(opens in a new window)Here is an informative guide on hydration.

The key points to remember are:

• The average person should be drinking between 1.5-2 litres of water per day
• Always carry a refillable water bottle to ensure easy access to water
• 20-30% of the water we need comes from our food

(4) Choose healthy cooking methods

If you can, cook foods in the following ways:

• grilling
• stir frying
• air frying
• roasting or baking with minimal oil
• steam or blanch in boiling water
• microwave

These cooking methods mostly use water and steam instead of oil. Quicker cooking methods also reduce the loss of nutrients, for example grilling will better preserve heat sensitive nutrients than braising. 

(5) Organisation is key

Preparing your lunch the night before a busy day is a must. It’s one less thing to think about in the morning and saves so much time and money!

Similarly, meal prepping and bulk buying require planning but pay off majorly in the long run.

Food labelling usually includes nutrition information, portion information, allergens, health claims and symbols. The nutrition information can be tricky to navigate. Below is a short guide with key points to remember.

• The ingredients are listed in descending order with the first ingredient being the ingredient present in the largest quantity.
• The nutritional information will contain the quantities of protein, fats, carbohydrates, sugars and any other relevant vitamin or mineral in that food. This will include quantity per portion and per 100g/100ml of the product. It can be useful to compare products using the per 100g/100ml information.
• Reference Intakes (RIs) will also be included on the label. Reference Intakes are guidelines on the approximate amounts of particular nutrients and energy required for a healthy diet. On food labelling it will show what percentage of the RI that food contains.
• Nutrition and health claims can be confusing to decipher. Claims that products are high/low in a particular nutrient are regulated by the European Food and Safety Authority (EFSA). A table of these claims and what they mean can be found in this (opens in a new window)article published by The European Food Information Council (EUFIC). The article also covers health claims which are claims that 'state, suggest or imply that a relationship exists between a food or one of its components and health'. Understanding what these mean can make you a better consumer and help with purchasing the products that are most beneficial for your health.
• EUFIC have a (opens in a new window)new interactive food labelling resource that explains food labelling clearly.
• For more information check out the (opens in a new window)EUFIC guide on food labelling and the (opens in a new window)Safefood guide.

Below is a useful tool designed by the Irish Heart Foundation. Use this to assess the fat, sugar and salt content of a food product.

When studying for exams, healthy eating can be less of a priority. However, it is important to choose the right foods that will sustain your energy and focus. Here are some easy tips to help you succeed in your exam.

3 meals a day

Maintaining energy levels during exams is difficult if you are already sleep deprived, combining this skipping meals makes performing well in exams even more difficult. Keeping a steady supply of glucose (energy) throughout the day, will ensure you do not lose concentration during both your study and exam times. Breakfast can be the easiest meal to neglect for some but below are some ideas to make sure you are not missing out such an important meal.

• Wholegrain cereal with milk and glass of orange juice
• Poached egg on wholemeal toast with a glass of milk
• Wholemeal bread toasted with chopped banana and glass of milk

Stay hydrated 

Drink 1.5-2L of fluids each day. Staying optimally hydrated improves focus and concentration. It is best to drink water while studying rather than drinks with added sugar or excess caffeine. Safefood's research has concluded "that one 500ml energy drink can contain up to 14 level teaspoons of sugar or the equivalent of 3 cups of espresso". Their (opens in a new window)energy drinks checker is a useful tool to see what your energy drinks really contain. 

Choose nutritious snacks

Fresh fruit, popcorn, fruit scones, dried fruit, yoghurt or nuts are good options that are recommended by the (opens in a new window)INDI (Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute) for exam snacks. 

Preparation is key

Having meals ready in the fridge or freezer makes exam season less stressful. It means you can use your energy for studying rather than cooking and that you can still be eat nutritious meals when you need them most.

Source: (opens in a new window)Eating Well for Exam Students

Sustainable Diets are those diets with low environmental impacts that contribute to food and nutrition security and to healthy life for present and future generations. (Source: (opens in a new window)https://nutritionsource.hsph.harvard.edu/sustainability/).

Eating sustainably can help reduce your environmental impact as food systems account for one third of global greenhouse gas emissions. Sustainable eating should not make life more difficult for you as a college student on a budget. There are simple ways to eat a sustainable and healthy diet in an affordable way.

Sustainable diets:

• are based on a great variety of unprocessed or minimally processed foods, balanced across food groups, while restricting highly processed food and sugary drinks
• include wholegrains, legumes, nuts and a variety of fruits and vegetables
• can include small amounts of eggs, dairy, poultry and fish; and small amounts of red meat
• choose foods with the least packaging
• reduce food waste

Linked are some resources on sustainable eating:

(opens in a new window)https://utopia-the-edit.ie/2024/10/04/a-guide-to-sustainable-and-healthy-eating/

(opens in a new window)https://www.safefood.net/blog/february-2020/sustainable-diets-healthy

(opens in a new window)https://www.eufic.org/en/healthy-living/article/are-seasonal-fruit-and-vegetables-better-for-the-environment

Below are some recipe links:

Cook with five

Healthy Breakfast Ideas

Healthy Eating Blog Series - Recipes

Budget Friendly Recipes

(opens in a new window)Vibrant Veg Cookbook