Eat for your future

Take time out to enjoy healthy food, and we don't mean half-eaten burgers. Your body will thank you for it later, says Dr Wynnie Chan

A hectic social life and the pressures of study and then making it up the career ladder mean getting a decent meal, like a night's sleep, can be difficult. Yet it's important to try and eat healthily in your late teens and early twenties because the foundation to a healthy life starts now. This is when the body starts to stockpile precious minerals that could prevent you getting sick in later life.

Any old iron?
The need for iron differs between men and women. We all need iron to make healthy blood and to help develop muscle but in their early twenties women need more amounts of iron to replace menstrual losses. Iron-rich foods are everywhere meat, offal, fortified breakfast cereals, bread, vegetables and even dark chocolate.

It's important to remember that there are two types of iron - haem iron which comes mainly from meats and offals, and non -haem iron which is found in cereals, pulses, eggs, vegetables, fruit and dairy products. Haem iron is absorbed well by the body compared to non-haem iron, although taking extra vitamin C can help. If you need to up your iron intake you should avoid tea after meals, and instead opt for orange juice.

Bone building
Healthy bones and teeth are the result of a calcium-rich diet. From birth to 30, calcium is constantly being deposited in the body. But from then on things go downhill when the calcium starts to be lost faster from the body than it can be replaced. This puts us at risk of osteoporosis in later life - when the bones become brittle and easily broken. It makes sense to insure ourselves against bone loss by eating more calcium in our twenties. Stock up by eating calcium rich foods like milk, cheese, yoghurt, bread, vegetables, and fish with bones. Reduced- fat milk contains the same amount of calcium as whole milk, while for vegetarians, calcium-fortified soya milk and tofu are also great.