Ah, the holidays! The most wonderful time of the year, if you believe the Andy Williams Christmas song. But isn’t it also the most stressful? End of year reporting, assessments, allocating bonuses, finalising year-end projects & next year’s business plans & projections. All this work collides with finding gifts & writing cards for everyone from family to teachers, attending multiple social engagements & prepping for yet another drama-filled family gathering! It’s a recipe for overwhelm & over indulgence all culminating in long list of new year’s resolutions full of promise for new beginnings.
Holiday overwhelm & over indulgence often go together during the holidays - and they cause some pretty nasty symptoms. Here are the top 3 I see and my favourite remedies you can try this holiday season:
REFLUX & ACID INDIGESTION
Stress stops digestion in the bud. Makes sense. When we are under threat, we can’t really let something like hunger override our primal instinct for survival. So, heading to that holiday party straight from work or going to what you know is going to be a drama-filled family gathering is going to shut down production of your digestive juices. Not great news given the onslaught of rich food & booze that follows. So many people suffer from acid reflux, indigestion & gastroesophaegul reflux disorder (GERD) during the holidays. How many of you out there can’t sleep properly after a big holiday meal?
Solution: Pop some digestive enzymes just before you start your meal. It will support your digestive potential, reduce bloating and distention, as well as reduce reflux & GERD. I like using Pure Encapsulations, which are available at top-end health food stores. If you have trouble finding them, get in touch & I’ll give you a 10% discount when you order them online from Fullscript.
THE SUGAR BEAST AWAKENS
As a former sugarholic, I know first-hand how the holidays awaken the Sugar Beast within. How can they not? Betweent the booze, mince pies, pannettone and Toblerone - our consumption of carbohydrates increases dramatically —— AND SO DOES OUR OPPORTUNISTIC GUT BACTERIA. These little critters have a field day during the holidays & proliferate like fiends. As their numbers increase so do our sugar cravings and before the new year begins, our Sugar Beast has fully reclaimed possession of our cravings & our inner critic, relentlessly harrassing us for more sugar whilst calling us weak every time we give in.
Solution: When you get a sugar craving, try drinking a glass of water with the juice of 1/2 a lemon OR have 1 tsp of MCT oil. This will give you both the feeling of satiety plus enough time to pause and make your food choices with intention.
THE NEVER-ENDING HANGOVER
Spoiler alert to all the 20 & 30yr olds reading this. Once you hit 40 - hangovers last for days! And they happen with a lot less booze intake. If your daytime holiday fun is being impacted by the never-ending hangover that just refuses to let go, here’s my favourite tip.
Solution: Take 5g of chlorella two hours before an evening of drinking. This dosage has been to shown to lower the effects of a hangover in 96% of participants. Personally, I take another 5g with my meal; and I make sure to drink a lot of water over the course of the evening to ensure I keep flushing as much as I can out before going to sleep.
Hope these tips and tricks make your holidays a little easier. And if you need more support I’m only every an email away!
Happy holidays!
Cristina
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Cristina Tahoces is a nutritional therapist and owner of Thrive Nutrition Practice, a global online wellness business that helps corporate leaders be more physically & mentally resilient to stress. She shared her nutritional approach on the TEDx stage in 2017 as part of the TED Women’s Global Conference. She is a sought-after expert speaker & panelist on burnout, women’s post-natal wellness & metabolic health.