Freshmen: take care of health with veggies, warmth and moderation

You can always tell when a freshman is a freshman. Freshmen girls are the ones who are dressed up rather too nicely for frat parties - she hasn't yet discovered that inches of sudsy alcohol will be swamping her shimmering Jimmy Choo's. For guys its the one who is boisterously cliquish with pals, but demurely cautious alone. You know another way you can tell freshmen apart? They're unaware of how to take care of their health. Since I love you freshmen so much, I find myself obligated to write a little something that will keep our darling new class well.

Please, freshies, remember what a balanced meal is. Don't eat Ramen every night of the week. Eat something green. Let's assume you're an actively walking member of the Hopkins student bipedals with a BMI above 18.5, which for all you math fans is weight times 703 divided by height squared. You're going to need a certain number of calories and nutrients to keep you happy, healthy and drinking.

You must eat grain. Yes, carbs - according to the USDA for a 2,000 calorie diet, you should eat about six ounces a day. I know Atkins worked for mom and dad, but I don't know a single dieter that didn't succumb to the pressures of chocolate and donuts when the walk to FFC was farther than the box of Entenmanns. The secret is to eat good carbs. Think whole-grain wheat bread, multi-nut bread, rice, Cheerios or Wheat Thins with some hummus. Ditch the Twinkies or Nutella-Chocolate-Peanut-Butter-White-Bread sandwiches.

Eat your veggies and get colorful about it. Try some corn, broccoli, lima beans, carrots, sweet potatoes, red peppers or spinach. Vegetables give you your vitamins, and you need them. They assist in all the biochemical procedures that you need to think and move and make electrical impulses that eventually move the alcohol from the table to your esophagus. Try for at least 3 cups a day.

Don't forget about fruits - at least two cups a day. When you get a Gatorade, you also see the rack of Odwallas and Vitamin Waters that talk about natural juices and extra vitamins. If you eat the fruits themselves, you'll avoid a lot of extra sugars and you'll get plenty of vitamins that, in their natural state, are generally easier for your body to metabolize. And you'll get fiber so you don't get clogged up.

Let's not forget dairy or even fake dairy. Having lived with both a lactose intolerant and a pacifistic vegetarian, I have experience with soy milk. Try mixing it up with normal milk once in a while. The soy is good for you; it's generally calcium-enriched and it tastes good, but make sure you go for flavored soy milk, like vanilla. For the rest of us lactose lovers, dairy products are good for calcium, vitamins A, B-12 and D, potassium, phosphorus, niacin and riboflavin. Just avoid too sugary yogurts, and get three servings a day.

Now, protein. Protein will keep you strong, red-blooded and able to stumble home inebriated without snapping your toothpick legs. So eat up - nuts, beans, sunflower seeds, chicken, pork, roast beef and turkey are all quality. Watch out for over-salting, and get about six ounces a day.

Eat waffles, cookies, muffins, pastries, puddings, cakes and ice cream when you want them. But don't be stupid about it.

For you drinkers out there, please keep in mind that it's better to be a healthy, athletic alcoholic than an emaciated, beer-bellied addict. Alcohol does not turn into carbohydrates. It does contain calories, but no carbohydrates - that's generally in all the other flavoring. The alcohol itself is not broken down into glucose. The liver takes it and turns it into acetate, where eventually it turns into carbon dioxide and water - hence, the need to pee. Please don't skimp on your meals to save room on your calorie chart for alcohol.

Another thing that our lovely freshmen aren't used to is dormitory living. When one of you gets that cold, you all get a cold sooner or later. Sometimes the colds get bad, sometimes they skip over you entirely. When you're sick, don't drink alcohol. Keep warm, drink fluids and eat more fruits and vegetables than usual. Don't run around in heels and a tank top pretending it's still summer. You won't get better that way. And try to combat the stress. Your first semester has covered grades, so take advantage of it. Take it easy, find a good mental balance between your social and academic lives, and get a lot of sleep. You'll thank me when you're older, healthy, wasted and lurching past the News-Letter office.