Surviving at KAIST: Eating Right

A while ago, I did some research on the effects our lifestyles had on us and I found some things I never knew. Even skipping out one meal or having it at the wrong time can have detrimental effects such as stomach ulcers (which I think I have).

So, as well as helping myself, I decided I would share some things on how to survive through the KAIST lifestyle by eating right.

First, let me explain more about the usual KAIST freshman diet. Nearly always, breakfast is skipped. This is probably due to the fact that we get to bed so late and try to get as many hours of sleep possible before the following morning lecture. On empty stomachs, some people have hot coffee from the vending machines and some others have cold soft drinks. Some students may be lucky and finish lectures around 10.30 am, but most finish classes around noon which is already time for lunch. After lunch, it's right into classes again until dinner.

Dinner is usually around 5.30~7 pm. The one good thing about KAIST is that there are many cafeterias where students and faculty can eat (cheaply). However, to the average student, eating cafeteria food for three meals a day for three or four months is not that satisfying. This is where late night snacking comes in...

The one thing that I disliked about the eating habits here is that everyone seems to snack on processed foods quite a lot. Since its cheap and easy to access (the KAIST mart), we stock up on 2 minute noodles and processed ready-to-eat meals which have hardly no nutrients. There are no places within campus where we have access to a full variety of fresh vegetables and fruit so those who seek nutrition have to catch a cab out to town and go grocery shopping. Also, since the dormitories are not really equipped with kitchens, we can't bring back a lot of raw foods to cook or prepare. They say: who needs to spend all that time and effort when you can easily dial a seven digit number and get fast food delivered right to your dorm?

Alcohol is the biggest factor in my opinion. Do you know how much sugar goes into a bottle of beer or soju? Probably more calories in a cocktail... and KAIST university students love alcohol. In my opinion, although it might be difficult to do, if people started drinking much less they might see a big improvement in health. I personally have had many late night drinking outings as well as 4 am snacks. Every time, I woke up with terrible stomach pains and a nervous digestive system throughout the day.

So overall I've come up with a few things that you may wish to stick to if you ever feel your insides squirming.

1. Don't skip breakfast or meals in general:
They say breakfast is the most important meal and they are never wrong :) I saw this documentary ages ago which said that when people skip breakfast and become hungry, they tend to become more attracted to high-calorie foods in order to compensate. Eat a BIG breakfast full of protein and carbohydrates (this is in contrast to the small meal you should be having for dinner)

2. Stay away from processed/packaged foods
There may be times when you may need to resort to these (especially during exam periods). Since there exists these times, we should try to minimize eating these during our normal week. After all, nothing beats eating raw, fresh foods.

3. Minimize fast foods
Burger King at KAIST might be easy to access (since it's just 5 minutes from all the dormitories) but that's what they want you to think! Next time you walk past that place think of every food being dripped in trans fat before being served. Ergh

4. Reduce that alcohol!
Let's face it. Even I agree that everyone needs a good drink once in a while. Stress can overcome us and we need to lose it once in a while. So that's why I say REDUCE not eliminate :) I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure a drink once in a while with some good mates is healthier (for your mind and body) than getting wasted every night with people you hardly know and losing all those brain cells!

5. Don't eat past 8 pm
I don't really need to say much for this do I? When we eat a meal before we sleep, our insulin levels shoot up since we need to reduce the increased sugar levels in our blood. Then we will probably not get the hormonal balance we need while we sleep in order to feel relaxed in the morning.That's probably why we don't grow so tall either. Also, since we aren't relatively active while we are asleep, the food that hasn't been digested before we go to sleep is stored as fat.

and....

remember, if you don't keep a healthy eating schedule, some effects may include:

Fatigue
Ulcers
Constipation
Fat gain (muscle loss)
...

Good luck ^^