With the rising rates of heart-disease, obesity and diabetes, it is shocking that the government hasnâ??t regulated the options we have at a state university.

For those of you who bring your lunch to school, you may not have noticed that while our choices for food are abundant, our healthy choices are sorely lacking. While I am not a health freak, I have been trying to make some healthier choices lately. Our university is making my new lifestyle very difficult.

I have become very comfortable eating Taco Bell every day for lunch. I try to bring lunch, but I often forget, so I end up going with my old stand-by. I always get one of the meals, but I have one problem. I“m trying to cut soda out of my diet.

The meals come with a fountain soda, making it more cost-efficient to get a soda. I have a slight addiction to Mountain Dew, making this deal even more tempting. Sure, the fountain sodas come with the option of lemonade, but that stuff is so full of sugar, you may as well have a soda.

Nonetheless, I tried to drink the lemonade the other day. It was awful. My teeth felt like they were coated with fuzz after drinking only about a quarter of it. My mouth hurt from the sugar saturation. I ended up throwing it away.

Why they don“t offer juices or bottled water in place of the soda for the same price is beyond me. These food places make an abundance of money, it“s not like they can“t swallow the price difference.

I am, on the other hand, having trouble swallowing their beverage options. They should at least offer iced tea or sugar-free lemonade on the fountain. Here I am trying to eat healthy and cut soda from my diet, and the university is putting up every hurdle they can find.

A Taco Bell meal costs about four dollars. A side of cottage cheese (it“s not low-fat either), a salad, and a bottle of water is going to screw you out of at least seven dollars. Don“t even try asking anywhere for grilled chicken with vegetables. They“re all gonna laugh at you! If you do manage to get “grilled” chicken, it“s not much healthier than a burger seeing as it comes off the same grill.

It“s no wonder people gain weight when they go to college. How is one supposed to eat healthy when the only spare time we have is spent, not making healthy food, but studying for exams? With our jam-packed schedules, tiny kitchens and miniscule budgets, we“re lucky to get any nutrition at all. Most of our diets consist entirely of food we can get at school.

Don“t get me wrong, it is nice to have such a wide array of choices for lunch, but having one healthy option could possibly be a life-saver. With the rising rates of heart-disease, obesity and diabetes, it is shocking that the government hasn“t regulated the options we have at a state university. Not only should the government be held somewhat responsible, but the university itself should certainly require that each restaurant offer at least one healthy option.

I don“t want to pay thirty cents extra for a bottle of water with my tacos, especially when I am hungry for a meal that doesn“t consist entirely of fat. Sometimes, we have to make concessions for being in college.

I haven“t had time to date in years, both of my jobs suffer and so does my schoolwork. I don“t want to have to concede my health as well.

I don“t want to die of heart disease before I get my diploma, so can we just get a little healthy? I“m not asking for much, I just want a sugar-free, soda-free option for my drink.

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