LSU Dining has compiled a set of tools to help students better understand what they should be eating.
“The Nutrition Tools give you very specific information regarding the specific meal that you are consuming,” said Dean Samuels, LSU Dining marketing director.
Students can now view the nutritional value of every item served in the dining halls and in the on-campus restaurants on LSU Dining’s website.
The interactive webpage also allows students to calculate their portions and overall caloric intake per meal.
Servers use utensils that are the same measurements as the portions listed on the website to ensure students are being served the correct amount of food, Samuels said.
“Presenting it in this format allows [students] to make an informed decision before they even get to the building,” Samuels said.
Students are more likely to go for the first option they see if they do not read the menu ahead of time, he added.
Other tools available on the website include a body mass index calculator, a calorie counter, a resting metabolic rate calculator and a nutrition journal.
The tools help students measure their body fat percentages and their optimum daily caloric intake, as well as keep track of the food they have consumed.
The nutrition journal allows students to keep track of food they have consumed from the dining halls and from restaurants off campus.
“The tools are there,” said Briggitte Mosley, dietician and director of Athletic Dining. “But the tools only work if you use them.”
Mosley said she encourages students to use their plate as a measurement guide if they do not have the proper measuring tools.
Half of the plate should be filled with fruits and vegetables while proteins and starches should each cover only one-fourth of the plate, Mosley said.
“Food determines how you deal with stress, how you take your tests, how you study and how you retain,” Mosley said. “It all goes together.”
For these reasons, it is important for students to develop healthy eating habits early, Mosley said.
The options in the dining halls change often, but only in an attempt to add variety to the menu, not to change the nutritional value, Samuels said.
Samuels said there have always been healthy options available on campus, but many myths and misconceptions still exist.
Samuels said he was shocked to hear that students believed powdered eggs were used in the dining halls.
In reality, cage-free eggs are used in the dining halls, Samuels said.
These tools were designed to ensure the nutritional value of what is being served and to dispel any rumors about the quality of what is being served, Samuels said.
“If you don’t put information out there, you leave them to come up with their own assumption as to what’s being done,” Samuels said.
