It is getting closer and closer to that time of year when your schedule revolves around tests, projects and papers. In the weeks between now and finals, many people's lives are changed. The emphasis becomes deadline after deadline, and the motto is simply survival until it is all over.

During these weeks when stress and fatigue rule your life, you may choose to ignore what you eat and the activities you perform by dedicating more time to studying and cramming before the next test. In reality, this is the time we should be most mindful of what we are putting into our bodies.

When bodies are stressed to the max and asked to function on less sleep, we should know exactly what nutrients are going in to help us maintain the strongest possible immune system.

When you are under stress, your body produces a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol is a catabolic hormone, meaning it promotes the breakdown of important structures such as muscle mass and compromises your body's ability to reject harmful substances like bacteria and viruses.

In order to counteract the negative effects of cortisol, your body needs extra sources of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and nutrients that help build and maintain your immune system. To ensure you are getting adequate amounts of the nutrients, you need to monitor what you take in. This means eating fruits and vegetables as a snack instead of candy or chips when you are studying. Choosing to drink fruit juice or water will provide greater benefits to your body than coffee or soda. In fact, the caffeine in coffee and soda acts as a diuretic in your body. This means it promotes the elimination of fluids from your body through urination. When you urinate, you are not only losing waste products, but you also could lose valuable nutrients your body has not yet had time to absorb.

So, when you are studying the next few weeks, take time to notice what you are eating. Your body can function only on the nutrients you feed it. If you constantly snack on junk food, like soda, candy and chips, you may satisfy your immediate hunger, but you could potentially be leaving yourself open to infections and illness. The last thing anyone wants is to be sick during finals week.

To help protect yourself, I suggest buying more fruits and vegetables to help supplement your diet with important nutrients that are often not found in convenience foods. If you are struggling to eat properly, another option is adding a daily multivitamin to your routine. While the nutrients you receive from a multivitamin pill may not be as natural as those found in fruits and vegetables, it better than nothing. Best of luck on all your work in the next few weeks and please feel free to e-mail me at [email protected] if you have questions regarding your health and fitness.