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Staying Healthy and Helping Others

Tuesday, January 11th, 2011

 

My move from Wyoming to New York City last year was fraught with stress. During a brief stint with homelessness and unemployment, I fell ill. My illness began insidiously, with only fatigue and a sore throat. As time passed, I only grew worse. I was under a lot of stress at the time, trying to adjust to my new life in the City. I struggled through job interviews and searching for a place to move. Even after finding a job and an internship and a place to live, there was no time for me to rest and recuperate. How could I take off work if I’d just gotten hired? How could I sleep if my new roommates were always up?

I stumbled into several doctor’s offices at the time, hoping desperately for a cure. One pronounced that I had the flu and sent me home. Two declared that I had a sinus infection. They all agreed that my illness was exacerbated by stress, but didn’t offer any solutions. It wasn’t until I visited my fourth doctor that I found an answer. I was tested for Mononucleosis and came up positive.

I was hoping that since the doctors knew what I had, I could get cured, but this never happened. I remained chronically ill and exhausted. For months, all I did was drag myself to work and then back home.  The doctors told me I would recover from mono in a few weeks, but it was not until I took a break and went home three months later that I began to improve. My visit with my friends and family alleviated all the stress and depression I had experienced in the City. Finally, I began to feel healthy again. My illness and subsequent recovery made me realize three things.

IT TAKES OTHER PEOPLE TO HELP YOU FEEL WELL
One thing consistently aggravated me during my frequent trips to the doctor’s office last year. None of the doctors (except the kind woman who discovered I had mono) seemed to care that I was sick. They wanted me to pay my bill and get in and out of the office within 30 minutes so they could take the next patient. I believe that is the reason none of them was able to diagnose me. This made me realize how important it is to have someone with compassion beside you when you are ill. This is probably also the reason why I recovered when I went back home to see my friends and family.

But compassion is a two-way street.  If you see someone you care for (or even someone you don’t!) sick, try to help them. Maybe you’re not a doctor, but do what you can. If your roommate has the flu, don’t avoid them like the plague. Use your meal card to buy some them soup or juice. Assist them as they walk down to the campus clinic.  Even if you’re a big germaphobe, at least toss them a couple Advil! When they see that someone cares, they will feel better.

The Values section of our magazine, Student Maximu$, also provides great advice on how to care for others. Stay tuned for the next issue of Student Maximu$, which is coming out soon!

DON’T LET STRESS RULE YOUR LIFE (BECAUSE IT ALSO RULES YOUR HEALTH)
My first seven months in NYC were filled with stress, and this is the likely reason I felt ill that whole time. Stress, whether it be physical or mental, takes a toll on your body. Not to get too scientific about it, but stress releases a hormone called cortisal into your system. Cortisal weakens the immune system by attacking white blood cells. So if you feel yourself starting to get stressed, take it easy! This is easier said than done, especially for college students. But there are number of methods you can you use.

TRY SOME YOGA
Yoga, an ancient form of exercise developed in India nearly 5000 years ago, helps rejuvenate both your body and mind. After a session, you are guaranteed to feel more relaxed and stress-free (even if your muscles are a little sore!). You can practice Yoga from the comfort of your home, or hone your skills (and meet some new friends) by taking a class. BYM  Bikram Yoga offers over 50 classes at great locations in lower Manhattan. Take advantage of their student discount and enroll today.

ENJOY A SPA
A day at the spa is sure to leave you more relaxed. Let yourself be pampered as the world’s cares lift from your shoulders. And as a student, you can take advantage of the many great coupons the Campus Clipper offers! Beauty and Youth Spa, Elegant Spa, Orchid Garden Spa, and many others, are all currently offering coupons for students.

TAKE CARE OF YOUR BODY
If you feel yourself starting to get sick, don’t follow my example. I continued to work despite having mono, and this severely inhibited my recovery. Take time to rest and get yourself to a doctor! As a student, you have health insurance, which ensures that you can get affordable care wherever you go. And these student discounts make it even more affordable. Now you can get the medicine you need to tackle the world again. Check out these coupons from Whitney Chemists, Block Drug Stores, and Biomed Drugs.

Hopefully, these tips (as well as the great discounts that come along with them) will ensure that you remain healthy in the coming year, so that you can continue to help those around you.

–Written by Megan Soyars, Campus Clipper blogger

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Walk Right In

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

I’m writing this with a cold towel on my forehead and a mug filled with Chamomile tea, but sadly this isn’t a West Village fashion statement or a way to prepare for an acting gig. Instead it’s the harsh reality of getting over strep throat. But I’m not writing this to vent or for anyone to feel sorry for me. I’m writing this to let you know about a quick way to see a doctor and get a prescription (Before I start I have to say that the first thing you should do is go to your school’s medical center and see what they can do for you. These health clinics are run with you in mind so don’t put off something for fear of confidentially or even laziness; if you’re not feeling well just make an appointment at the health center – I guarantee no one wants to hang out with a sick person.)
Since it’s the summer and I’m not in school at the moment I went to my insurance company’s website (in this case Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield) and used their search function to get a list of doctors by specialty and distance from my apartment. The problem is that I apparently picked the one week of the year when most of the doctors in this city are on vacation to get sick. I called 15 offices and I got nowhere.
I was suggested a plan B by a friend’s mother who’s a nurse and this turned out to be a great option and the one I’m highly recommending to you. Maybe you already know about these, but many regular pharmacies like CVS, Duane Reade, and Walgreens have convenient walk-in clinics. A walk-in clinic is a small clinic at a drugstore where they have an on-site doctor who will give you a checkup. They also take a plethora of insurance plans, which is also a major plus. I went to a Duane Reade in the Upper East Side (unfortunately CVS and Walgreens don’t have any locations in Manhattan), and after waiting 10 minutes I was seen by a doctor’s assistant who checked my blood pressure, asked me some basic questions about my medical history, and took a nice swab of the back of my throat to check for strep. I was then seen in a second room by a great doctor who asked me some more questions and confirmed I had strep after the test results were ready (about 5- 10 minutes after the assistant made me gag and took the swab). The best part of the visit, however, may have been the fact that a minute after the doctor wrote me a prescription a pharmacist was filling it at the in-store pharmacy. As I waited, I bought Tylenol, Advil, and water and read a magazine. 15 minutes after I brought my prescription to be filled it was ready for pick up. I was impressed by the expediency of the whole process and how easy it was to get diagnosed and have a prescription filled. If any of you find it a hassle to see a doctor, or even if you don’t, these walk-in clinics are efficient and a great way to get better in no time at all.
In the meantime I’m spending my days locked away in my apartment watching movies I missed out on in the theatres – anyone have any suggestions?

-Roni Tessler

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Late Night Creations

Friday, July 2nd, 2010

written by Sabina Ashbaugh

We always substitute an egg with two tablespoons of vanilla soymilk—a slight variation that leaves the dough runny and easier to mix with the cracked wooden spoon. The timer is set for 12 minutes, not 14 as the cookbook suggests, with a reminder at the six-minute mark to switch the top and bottom trays in the oven. Despite these careful discrepancies, accumulated over countless nights, our creations are never completely predictable. We speculate whether it might be the heat of the dimly lit kitchen, and that volatile summer breeze that seeps in through the windows and seems to soften the contours of the room.
Despite our many trials, my sister and I never fully plan our baking efforts, or even carefully measure out the ingredients of our amended recipes. The soymilk substitution, now a permanent step in the cookie making process, came from a late realization that the egg carton was deceptively empty. As if to support this impulsiveness, the planned desserts baked for family dinners—the pumpkin or apple pies, the blueberry cobblers, the cinnamon buns, the madeleines—are never as good as the spontaneous endeavors to satisfy late night cravings. The immediate satisfaction of these creations quickly assuaged the worries and anxieties amassed during school or work. Tasks divided and ingredients laid out, my sister and I get to work setting right the wrongs of the day.
It has been a year now since I moved away from home. Some months have flown by while others have painstakingly inched to a close, with pangs of homesickness and late night baking cravings that seemed to arise out of nowhere. Family, a concept that had seemed so natural and tangible just a year ago, has slowly been abstracted to stand for that sense of place so radically reconfigured after leaving for school. In times of stress, I often caught myself about to call the house with a confused plea of “What should I do?”
With distance I have come to realize how often I unintentionally underappreciated this form of support. I cringe at the thought that the ease and spontaneity of those nights spent baking are a lost bridge between my sister and I—treasured memories to look back on fondly but ones impossible to recapture. And yet the removal of this crutch has also forced me to examine how I will right the wrongs of the day in my own way—not by baking, but through the careers and choices that lie ahead.
Moving away is an exciting step towards independence and deciding how and what one wants to change in the world. In the midst of so many choices, the advice offered by family is a means of grounding oneself in times of transformation. Finding a niche in college involves exploring how one will contribute to society and improve the lives of others, but it also requires the recognition of the debt owed to those at home.
Growing up compels us to accept these recipes, relationships, and plans for future change. Family rituals become memories as traditions are re-made. It is important to maintain ties with those that helped us get where we are, and continue to want to see us succeed. Helping others starts by looking out for and appreciating those at home, and paying tribute to those left behind.

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Cheap Eats Vegan

Friday, July 2nd, 2010

written by Christina Roylance

Think being a vegetarian means expensive specialty restaurants, and lots of drama when you go out to dinner with friends? Do you feel that you’ll have to be the most finicky customer of all time and waiters will hate you? This could not be further from the truth.  Living in NYC is getting easier and more enjoyable every day to be a vegetarian or vegan.  There’s tons of options, and you don’t need to drag everyone to your all-veg restaurants; there are simple ways to get cheap awesome vegetarian food by being knowledgeable about good places and keeping a few things in mind.
NYC is a mecca of different cultures and backgrounds. Ethnic foods abound in the city, and there’s often cheap, local places for whatever foreign flavor you want–Indian, Thai, Japanese, Italian, Middle Eastern, Mexican, whatever.  Many of these cuisines are sensitive to vegetarians, and can easily be requested vegan, as long as you know what to ask for.

Middle Eastern food is a great resource for vegetarians.  Falafels are cheap, vegetarian fast food sandwiches: deep fried tahini balls with hummus and veggies!  It’s a great, simple, yet filling option.  Aldiwan Lebanese restaurant is located on A if you want a sit-down Middle Eastern dinner.  It also has a great selection of vegetarian appetizers, as well as a tasty vegetarian Mousaka entrée that’s big enough for two.

At lunchtime, there’s always Indian food all-you-can-eat buffets for cheap.  Indian Taj on Bleeker has a $10 deal that’s even cheaper with a Campus Clipper Coupon.  Indian food is hearty and flavorful, and you can just ask the servers which dishes do not have any meat or cheese.  These buffets are usually huge, so there’s bound to be a selection of vegetarian things to eat.

Thai food is a personal favorite of mine.  Entrées tend to be large so you can cut the cost by splitting dishes.  There are always a great deal of vegetarian options, but just ask if there are any eggs in the dish and it’s easy enough for you to be accommodated.  Boyd Thai on Thompson has great vegetarian options, and vegan treats and desserts available as well!

Mexican cuisine is great because if that’s what you’re craving, you can either get fast and cheap take-out style places or sit down to dinner.  Vegetarian and vegan burritos are easy since you often custom order them.  With rice, beans, veggies, and guacamole, (and cheese and sour cream if you’re not a vegan) a vegetarian burrito is filling and quick.  Try grabbing one from Burritoville, and use your Campus Clipper Coupon to save $1.

Surprisingly, lots of sushi restaurants can accommodate vegetarians as well, with veggie filled sushi rolls. It is important to make sure the restaurant doesn’t use fish sauces or oils in the preparation though if you’re a strict vegetarian.  Sushi Yawa on 8th street has tons of vegetable rolls (cucumber, avocado, sweet potato, spinach, and more!), and a bunch of vegetarian appetizers as well.  Plus, everyone I know loves sushi, so non-veg friends will be happy to accompany you.

Italian food is everyone’s favorite–who doesn’t love pasta?  It just takes a few easy questions when ordering your pasta dish to know if it’s vegetarian or vegan.  Just ask if there’s meat in the sauce, request no parmesan, and ask for your food cooked with olive oil instead of butter.  Most dishes are prepared that way already, but if you just check it should be easy to make any changes.  Grotta Azzurra in Little Italy has an affordable $10 prix fixe for lunch, as well as a Thursday night ladies night, with free appetizers and half-off on drinks!

So just because you’re vegetarian or vegan doesn’t mean eating out has to be boring or expensive!  You can still eat your favorite things; just be a little conscientious and ask the right questions.  You don’t have to miss out on any great deals or fun nights out just because you have different dietary needs.  So remember to use Campus Clipper coupons to get the best deals, and be sure to experiment and have fun.

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Posted in Cheap Eats, onFood, onHealth, onValues, Student Maximu$ Summer/Fall 2010 | No Comments »

The Importance of Being Counseled

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

Let’s face it, college can be an emotional rollercoaster. While you’re studying for tests and working on papers, you also have to deal with issues like friends, family, and your own happiness. I think people forget that college students are more likely to feel depressed than any other age group and that college is, for many, the first time of so many things. Some experience new academic pressures, and some feel the anxiety of paying for school. Some must finally confront the concept of “independence,” and some first begin the journey of who they are. During my first few months in college I got really down and spoke to my parents a lot. They would come visit me often since I went to school about thirty minutes away and they were sad that I wasn’t feeling my best. I got through that time by myself, but I started feeling down again during my sophomore year. I ended up going to the counseling center at my school just to check it out and see what my options were. I walked into that building feeling like every eye was looking, studying, and judging me and that I had some major problem that I needed to seek help for. After speaking with a intake counselor so they could get a sense of who I was (which, by the way, felt extremely impersonal and uncomfortable), I discovered that every student at my school was entitled to twelve free sessions a year with a graduate student studying in the masters of psychology program and I set up my first session. I began these sessions with hesitation, as I wasn’t sure how therapy was supposed to go. Was I supposed to just start speaking about my life with a total stranger? What if someone found out that I was in therapy? What if I hated the session and realized I just wasted an hour of my life? The truth was that these were and are valid concerns before starting therapy, but since this experience I have become an ardent supporter of therapy, if just for the sake of talking to someone else about what’s going on in your life. You don’t need to have something “wrong” to go to therapy. Therapy is a fantastic way to flesh out ideas, feelings, and opinions with an objective listener and if you also happen to have some issues that you’re dealing with what better setting is there than with a person whose job it is to listen and try to help? In an ideal world everyone would be in therapy and the stigma of being in therapy would disappear. We go to the gym to take care of our physical health, so shouldn’t taking care of our mental health be equally as important? Most schools have counseling centers and it doesn’t hurt to see what kind of options your school has to help with mental health. You have enough exams and research papers to deal with so check out some ways to make sure you’re feeling at your best.
Counseling is a different experience for everyone and it may take time to find a good person that you feel is actively listening to you. Let me know if you’ve ever seen a counselor and how the experience was.

-Roni Tessler

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VegEats! A Rationale

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

The poster for the wonderful documentary by Robert Kenner - a must-see!

VegEats is a Campus Clipper column where we discuss the benefits of vegan/vegetarian-friendly eating in New York City and find ways for students to eat healthy and be environmentally friendly with their food while still saving money.

I want to share with you why I went veg. I am not trying to tell you to make the same choice. But most students who move to New York City encounter a much larger number of vegetarians and vegans than they have before, and I want to offer an idea of why someone might have chosen this diet/lifestyle. And for those of you who might be considering going veg, I hope to give you some things to consider and some advice. I went veg because I researched and educated myself about how eating animals and animal byproducts affected my health, the health of the planet, and the life of the animals. What I learned upset me and made me not want to use my money to support a system that has so many negative consequences. (If you would like to educate yourself, there are a abundance of resources online. I would personally recommend the site goveg.com, as well as other resources like Robert Kenner’s excellent 2008 documentary Food, Inc.)

But I think the reason I was successful in going veg and have felt so good about the decision is I didn’t make any changes too quickly and allowed myself to work at my own timeline. There’s a term in psychology, cognitive dissonance, which means the uncomfortable feeling you get by trying to maintain two contradictory ideas simultaneously. I was brought up, like many others, believing it’s okay to eat animals. But as I learned more about the consequences of this action, I increasingly found reasons why it wasn’t. Over time, months and months, my discomfort grew so that when I ate meat or cheese or eggs, I didn’t feel good about it. The food didn’t seem satisfying anymore.

Even once I decided to actually change my diet, I did it in baby steps: I gave up red meat, then waited a few months, then gave up turkey, then waited; and when I began to consider veganism, I went on “practice runs” every few months for over a year, adopting a complete vegan diet for longer and longer periods of time. During both of these process’, I was careful to note what cravings I had and what foods assuaged them. For example, when I went vegetarian, I kept a jar of crunchy peanut butter within reach at all times – I even had one under my bed with a spoon! Whenever I was feeling sluggish or craving a cheeseburger, I ate a big scoop of crunchy PB. Almost immediately I trained my body to crave peanuts when it needed protein instead of meat; it’s amazing how quickly and easily the body will adapt to changes we make as long as we are attentive to it and make sure it gets what it needs.

I paid attention to how hungry or not hungry I felt, my energy levels, how well I was sleeping, my mood, everything. Diet is probably one of the easiest ways to change your whole life, for better or worse; making huge sudden changes and expecting your body to immediately adjust is a recipe for disaster. By the time I was fully vegetarian and fully vegan, I no longer had any craving for those foods – I knew what my body could use to replace them, and I liked being able to eat food that was not only delicious but good for me, animals, and the planet.

If you are interested in going vegetarian or vegan, that’s great – I’ll have more advice about that in future posts. But even if you’re not, college is an important time for your diet. For many of us, this is the first time we’re deciding what’s for dinner, and that’s actually a really important decision. The quality and quantity of food you put into your body affects you physically and in a multitude of other ways – underestimating the importance of a healthy diet is a huge mistake too many students make. Please research your food – where does it come from, how is it prepared, what nutrients, fats, and calories does it contain, and how will these properties affect you. Knowledge is power, so do what you came to college to do: learn.

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Chambers of Solitude: the October Schlump

Sunday, June 6th, 2010
Big Apple

New York City: you don't have to see all of it in a month

About a month into the fall semester, a phenomenon occurs that I refer to as the October Schlump. It’s easy to recognize: first-year students, (who every night up till then have turned Washington Square into a giant social playground,) suddenly disappear. For a few weeks they are conspicuously absent, and then slowly, as Halloween approaches, they begin to tentatively reemerge from their dorms. What happened?

I know, because I went through it. For students new to this amazing city, that first month is like a dream. So many wonderful things to see and do that were never available before; new friends to make, new places to go, new things to discover. But it really feels like a dream: there’s a constant sense that this is illusory, that at any moment you will wake up and this opportunity you worked so hard for will dissolve around you. When a new friend invites you to go to this party at their friend’s place in Brooklyn, you think, Brooklyn! When else will I get to see Brooklyn?! When you read about a new exhibit at the MoMA, you think, the MoMA! When else will I be able to visit the MoMA?! When you pass a new Mexican restaurant in the Village offering a two-for-one Margarita special, you think . . .  well, you get the idea.

This lifestyle is, of course, impossible to maintain. About a month in, you wake up one day, maybe around 5 PM, and think, what day is it? You realize that you slept through an entire day of classes. See, you meant to just take a short nap – it was 3 AM, you’d just gotten back from a party at a friend’s – Happy Wednesday! – and you realized you didn’t have any clean clothes, so what a perfect time to do laundry! You threw a load in the washer, and then came back up to finish that essay on Socrates – that’s what New York’s about, multitasking! – and about two pages in thought, I’ll just take a quick nap – an hour or two, tops. After all, you haven’t slept in two days, so it’s about time to give the body a little refresher. Now here you are, essay not finished, classes missed, your load of laundry having been removed from the washer and scattered aimlessly all over the laundry room floor by some jerk. And even after sleeping twelve hours, you still feel tired. Or not tired, more than tired – exhausted. Your resources have been depleted; nothing in you wants to get out of bed, go anywhere, do anything. The momentum is gone.

This is the October Schlump. Although skipping meals and missing sleep are major contributing factors, the Schlump is not a disease, at least not physically. It’s the mental state that settles in when you realize that you barely have any idea what you did in the past month. You were in constant motion, you went and saw and did a million amazing things, but you can barely remember any of them. Some of them you liked, some of them you didn’t, but which were which?

So, for about a week, you don’t go out. You stay inside, do homework, get lots of sleep, eat right, and figure out what to do next. In that time, you realize that New York City isn’t going anywhere. It won’t disappear under your feet one day; it will be there the next day when you wake up, and the day after that, and the day after that. You will have at least four years, at most the rest of your life, to explore. So after that week, when friends call you up and invite you to this or that, you can say no, not tonight, rain-check. You don’t even need to give a reason. You can (in fact, you must) spend a night in now and then. And you must do is reflect. You are swimming in a sea of new experiences, new stimuli, new ideas, and some are good for you and some are not. You can have all these experiences but if you never stop to reflect on what they mean, they are – literally – meaningless.

As anyone who’s lived in a dorm can attest, dorms can be a lot of fun, but they aren’t really the best places for quiet reflection. After my October Schlump, I began to seek out places I could go to be by myself, to think and ponder, to reflect and debate. I can’t give you the answers to the big questions of life that all college students confront during those four years – I don’t have them. But I can share with you come places I think will provide the stillness, the solitude, within the bustling metropolis that we call home, to find some of these answers. And I will call them Chambers of Solitude. More to come.

And in the meantime, if you need to a moment of calm and some advice on chill-axing, (sorry, I won’t use that word again,) go here.

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STD’s and Germ Freaks!

Saturday, May 29th, 2010

The other day I spent some time with a long time friend of mine. It was a long yet blissful day; we ran all over town, touching down in each borough for at least an hour, well all of the boroughs with the exception of Staten Island. By the time we returned to my apartment, we were exhausted, drained, and well filthy. We had been running the streets of New York, riding the trains, sitting in public places, and using public restrooms. We were both due for a hot shower and a long night of sleep.

My friend, being the germ freak that she is, immediately ran to the bathroom, not only to wash her hands, but to scrub her face with soap and hot water as well. She then sat down to eat her food. While she ate, I asked her if she would take a picture of me. I was so in love with my outfit that day, that I felt the need to take as many pictures as possible in my lovely get up. At first she didn’t want to do it. She complained of touching the camera and then touching her food. She didn’t want to spread germs to her food. “But what about when you have unprotected sex”, I asked? She stopped and looked at me. “I only have unprotected sex with one person,” was her reply. I stared at her in amazement. “How do you know that he’s not having sex with anyone else,” I questioned? Her response, “he’s not.”

This got me thinking, deep, real deep. How could someone be so afraid of getting germs, but not as afraid of putting their life on the line? I mean she had been with this guy for over three years, but still.

I remember being a student in undergraduate school, and doing a project for my Black Studies class about sexual health and how so many young people are misinformed about the dangers of having unprotected sex. Thankfully, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has an abundance of information about Sexual Transmitted Diseases, including, prevention, causes, and treatment. While some diseases have noticeable symptoms, there are other diseases that don’t show symptoms. Some diseases are silent, slowly ruining the health of its victim until the victim decides to go and get themselves checked out.

According to the CDC, each year, there are approximately 19 million new STD infections, and almost half of them are among youth aged 15 to 24. This shows that many young people don’t get checked out. Maybe they think that they are invincible, or are afraid, or they may simply be ignorant about the importance of knowledge of their sexual health status. Fortunately, there are places throughout the five boroughs, where male and female students can get tested for STD’s. So what will you do? Will you become a germ freak or a freak about the safety of your sexual health? I suggest that you choose the latter!

Free and Confidential Clinics in NYC

Shana H

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VegEats! An Introduction

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

Veggies: delicious, nutritious, and cheap!

Hi everyone! My name is Jon, and I’m going to be offering some guidance into the wonderful world of vegan/vegetarian-friendly eating in New York City. For those who aren’t sure, a vegetarian is a person who restricts consumption of meat and animal byproducts. There are several types of vegetarians: pesco-vegetarians, who include fish in their diets; pollo-vegetarians, who include poultry; ovo-vegetarians, who include eggs; and lacto-vegetarians, who include dairy products. These prefixes can be combined. For example, when I officially started identifying myself as a vegetarian three years ago, I was a ovo-lacto-vegetarian.

About two months ago, I began identifying myself as a vegan, which is a strict vegetarian (absolutely no meat or animal byproducts) who extends this philosophy beyond diet into other parts of life. This means vegans don’t use products made from materials like leather, silk, or wool, because these materials rely on animals and animal captivity to be made. Vegans also only use man-made sponges and avoid substances like gelatin, an ingredient in most marshmallows and derived from collagen found in animal bones, or beeswax, commonly used to make candles and produced over a long period of time by bees as an essential part of their home. This lifestyle may sound a little extreme to those who have not encountered veganism before, but when adopted mindfully for the right reasons, it can be a wonderful positive change for many people.

So you may be saying to yourself, well, now I know what they don’t eat; what DO they eat? I eat primarily fruits, vegetables, nuts, and grains, as well as artificial animal-free products such as tofu. When eating out, I often go for Indian, Chinese, Israeli, Thai, or Mexican, as these cuisines offer lots of delicious vegan options, or I go to one of the multitude of vegan/vegetarian-friendly restaurants in New York City. Many people when hearing about this diet have concerns about health, primarily about protein and iron deficiency. Vegetarianism and veganism are actually very healthy as long as the practitioner eats a variety of foods, pays attention to intake of nutrients, fats, and calories, and stays active, (which is true of any lifestyle.) In fact, studies have shown that limiting meat and animal byproducts can significantly lower your chances of major health problems, including heart disease, cancer, stroke, obesity, diabetes, even Alzheimer’s! The average American eats nearly double the amount of protein they need per day, and veg-eaters have numerous alternative to meat and animal byproducts to find protein, iron, and all other essential nutrients.

I’m so excited to help you find ways to eat healthy on a student’s budget. New York can be expensive, but there are lots of tricks to up your nutrients, help the environment, and keep your wallet (and belly) full. To get you started, Campus Clipper has wonderful coupons for great veg-friendly restaurants like Atlas Café, Indian Taj, Monster Sushi, Tahini, Wild Ginger, and many more! Check them out on the coupons page! Happy Eating!

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