Unit Two Reflection: Health

This unit's main themes were centered around the 5 Pillars of Health, which are maintaining a balance of sleep, stress, exercise, nutrition, and social relationships. Through the diet and sleep diaries I recorded over the past few weeks, I determined that I was not doing a good enough job of either. My nutrition intake was fine, but my body required a little more calories to function properly in daily life involving marching band and other activities. On the other hand, the amount of sleep I get on average is definitely not enough to sustain for a long duration of time. During the day, I would feel tired and nod off in my classes when I should actually be energized and ready to learn. I also found that I was stressed frequently, usually by time constraints and work.

I think most students at Saratoga can attest to the same lifestyle: too little sleep, too much stress. To counteract stress and promote better lifestyles and health, I strongly suggest the school serve more nutritious food options and lower the amount of homework. In explanation of the former, our school cafeteria offers pizza, corn dogs, cookies, cup noodles, and various plastic encased burritos for lunch. Even the "healthy" option (aka the salad bar) is really just iceberg lettuce and croutons. On to homework, I know that it important for students to practice what they learned in class or even learn on their own at home, but I don't think that the homework system we have now is necessarily the best way to educate kids. There are schools out there that don't give homework, yet their kids are just as successful as ours and perhaps even happier and more relaxed. I don't know how realistic it is to expect the same of Saratoga, but it's a thought. In any case, maybe teachers here could reduce the amount of homework by doing away with busy work.

I learned about the functions of insulin, leptin, glucagon, and cortisol in the body, mostly having to do with the usage and storage of sugars. I also learned a lot about nutrition (carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, water, minerals, vitamins, fiber, phytochemicals) and what it means to have a healthy diet. One thing that I would be interested in exploring further is sleep, particularly dreams. Dreams don't exactly relate to this unit on health but I feel like there is a lot of unknowns when it comes to explaining dreams and it would be fun to learn about.


The TED Talk " Sugar: The Bitter Truth" is very relevant to modern day eating habits. Because of the accessibility of processed foods, we tend to consume way too much sugar without even realizing it.  Early on in this unit, we learned that "overcarbsumption" or eating too much sugar can result insulin resistance, leptin resistance, and basically the overall degradation of one's health. The necessity to eat whole foods and be aware of what processed foods you do eat were really highlighted in the TED talk as well as this unit.