Being in college usually comes with a side of unhealthy habits, such as binge eating chips at 1 AM, cramming in homework that’s due before class the next morning. That’s definitely something you hear a lot from college students nowadays. They’re not getting enough sleep or the sufficient nutrients that they need.

The other day I was wondering how a cleaner and more healthy lifestyle would change a person’s way of life. So I did some research and came across this article that explains how the food that we take in on a day to day basis does not only affect our physical health, but it also plays a major role in our emotional and mental health as well. It was also mentioned in the article that 90% of the serotonin found in our bodies is found in our intestine. So it’s no surprise that if our intestinal health is suffering from an unbalanced diet, then the serotonin (helps regulate our moods) in our body would fail to work.

In a study (mentioned in this article) that was conducted in New Zealand, 300 young adults were brought together to conduct an experiment where the young adults had to complete daily food journals for three consecutive weeks as well as record their mood throughout the day. The scientists found patterns in the experiment and concluded that the greater intake of fruits and vegetables gave the people more energy, calmness, and overall happiness. Also their moods generally remained good throughout the next day, not just on the day that they consumed the fruits and vegetables.

We all know that the better you sleep, the happier you are overall. Certain foods that you consume can make your sleep feel much better than other foods. According to this article, researchers from University of Pennsylvania and the University of Rochester have experimented with tart cherry juice. They believe that it is a beverage that can benefit your sleep. Their study included volunteers that was randomly assigned to drink an ounce of tart cherry juice or a placebo (for a week). The tart cherry juice drinkers experiments a 25-minute increase in sleep quantity, a 5-6% boost in sleep efficiency, and a measure of overall sleep quality. Other foods that they found to have the same effects as the tart cherry juice include fish, whole grains, nuts, and dark leafy greens.

It’s easy to say that exercise can improve your lifestyle for the better. You feel good after a good workout and more accomplished as a person. But certain “workouts” are better than others when trying to achieve different goals. For example, if you want to feel more calm and serene, you might want to try yoga out. According to a German study (mentioned in this article) published in 2005, 24 women were asked to participate in a three-month regimen. These women were described as “emotionally distressed” and were separated randomly into two different groups. One group (serving as the control group) was asked not to start an exercising routing or any stress-reduction programs during the 3-month experiment. “At the end of three months, the women who were assigned to the yoga group reported significant improvements in perceived stress, depression, anxiety, energy, fatigue, and well-being. Depression scores improved by 50%, anxiety scores by 30%, and overall well-being scores by 65%. Initial complaints of headaches, back pain, and poor sleep quality also resolved much more often in the yoga group than in the control group.“

After doing research on how a clean diet and good exercise (such as yoga) can change such a drastic part of your everyday mood and sleeping habits, I would want to give this better lifestyle a chance in my own life by cutting out the processed foods and junk foods that I would normally binge eat in my room.