5 Holiday Health Tips

In keeping with the holiday season, but not losing any momentum in striving for (or maintaining) your health goals and lifestyle changes, this month is focused on how to deal with the finer, or should I say, the sweeter things, that often tempt us throughout the holiday season. 

The weeks leading up to Christmas and into the New Year are considered a special time of year where we allow ourselves to fall off the healthy wagon. During those 2-3 weeks in December, some of us change our approach as to WHAT, and HOW we eat ‘food’, with a change in mentality. We actively decide “let loose” and “pause” our health habits for just a few weeks, like a little food vacation, with the intention of jumping right back into our superior “healthy” habits on January 1st of the New Year. Many sweet-treat givers are well-intentioned, but they can create many a temptation for their receivers, who struggle with will power, and saying ‘no’ to that winking gingerbread cookie or the seductive pecan pie with each passing-by of the snack table.

This December, I hope to provide you with some Christmas food armour tips, to avoid the unwanted additional insulation around the waistline, while still being able to participate in the festive activities and indulge in moderation.

1. Eat full meals. When it’s breakfast, fill your plate. Lunch, repeat. And dinner, the same. This sounds a lot like your normal meal routine - because it is. Over the holidays, part of our slipping health mentality is we become “grazers”, rather than keeping our normal eating/fasting routines. The problem with grazing is we never really feel full or satisfied, which leads us back to the snack table (often filled with sugary treats - not items of real sustenance or nutrition). I’m not sure about other families, but when our extended family used to gather for a weekend family Christmas event, the snack table was open 24/7, until the party ended. I'm sure many of us can recall similar, happy, but not always healthy family traditions.

2. Make your own health[ier] Christmas treats. Rather than buying or receiving sweet treats with unknown processed additives or large quantities of bad sugars, making your own special treats allows you to modulate the amount of sugar required in a recipe (which I normally cut down by 1/2 to 3/4), and the type of sugar used. Instead, consider using: maple syrup or honey, rather than confectioners’ sugar, corn-syrup, or ‘white’ refined table sugar. A little more effort, yes, but well worth the reward of maintaining your current waistline.

3. Limit the festive (alcoholic) drink choices. While alcohol is generally considered a ‘no-no’ because of its negative effects it has on our liver, cardiovascular health, and weight, it doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom this Christmas. First off, if you have the option, choose wine instead of beer, cocktails or mulled wine, etc. You may be shocked to learn that the carbohydrate content found in 1 glass of wine is generally 1/3 to 1/5 of the carbohydrate content found in beer. The body will metabolize those consumed carbohydrates into sugar, and from there, if not used as an immediate energy source, will be deposited around the body as fat. This does not mean, you can now drink double the amount of wine. Mmhm. Secondly, choose a better (ie. more expensive) wine. Not just because its the holidays and you are feeling generous, but because it has less residual (extra) sugar, and a resulting higher alcohol content (due to longer fermentation) than the cheap stuff. And sugar (recognised as glucose by our body), favours turning into fat (unless it is readily being used as energy). True. And thirdly, choose a dry red over a bubbly white wine. Dry reds have the least amount of sugar per glass vs. the sweet reds or whites (eg. the residual sugar content in a bottle of Jam Jar shiraz has 57 g/L, which is ~36 sugar calories per glass. Yikes! In comparison to a fine Penfolds shiraz which contains 2.4 g/L or ~2.6 sugar calories per glass. So you see, you can still join in the holiday cheer, while doing it in a moderate, and might I add, sophisticated fashion!

3. Make a conscious effort to drink more water this season. And to motivate yourself to do this, try adding fresh squeezed lemon to your water! You’ve probably seen people do this, but do you know what the benefits are of doing so? Lemons, while being acidic in nature due to their citrus, ascorbic (vitamin C), and caffeic acid content, are actually metabolised by the body into a base. An acidic state tends to contribute to inflammation, while an alkaline (or basic) state, like that produced by lemons, can reduce inflammation. Thus, a ‘basic’ body (in terms of pH) is a healthy body! If you ensure you are drinking 2-3 glasses of water between meals, it will leave you feeling satiated until your next major meal and prevent the typical holiday grazing. And if you decide to have a glass or two of red, then make sure you match every glass of wine with a glass of water (ie. 1:1). Not only is water a good “filler”, it’s a greater cleanser and detoxifier of alcohol and other toxins. Drinking more (lemon) water not only boosts your vitamin C intake and thus, your immune system to ward off the common cold; it can improve brain function and energy; while also improving your skin complexion, leaving you with a natural holiday glow.

4. Save the ‘nog for Christmas and New Years. If you are struggling with maintaining your current weight, eggnog is a creamy, tasty, but detrimental drink to your weight loss success. While theoretically, eggnog contains all the healthy nutrients your body needs; cream (ie. fat), eggs (ie. protein), and cinnamon and cardamom spice (ie. natural stimulant and natural diuretic/antihypertensive, respectfully) - the reality is, that people don’t invest in making their own healthy version of eggnog; rather, they buy the commercial eggnog which is loooaded with sugar and preservatives, which turn into fat and favour the deposition of extra weight around the abdomen. So try your best to save the eggnog for 1 or 2 special days this holiday season, and better yet, if you are extremely inspired… make your own! Your taste buds and body will thank you for the healthy treat.

5. Finally, exercise every single day (…the ‘family walk’ post-turkey dinner doesn’t count). No, this is not a food-related tip, and I know, these are groundbreaking ideas. But the truth is always worth repeating, and if you are on holiday over Christmas, you now have an additional 8-10 hours of free-time on your hands that you didn’t have during your normal work week. So, while becoming a couch potato is an option, there really is no excuse. Get outside. Take someone with you. And enjoy the gorgeous outdoors!

I hope you have a merry and fulfilling Christmas holiday full of joy, family, holiday festivities, and special treats (within moderation!), while continuing to pursue a life of excellence, balance and great health.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Dr. Kristyn Bell

References:

1. Harvard Health. Eat these fruits for their anti-inflammatory benefits. Harvard health. https://www.health.harvard.edu/nutrition/eat-these-fruits-for-their-anti-inflammatory-benefits. [Online]. 2021.

2. Al-Qudah TS et al. Lemon as a source of functional and medicinal ingredient: A review. International Journal of Chemical and Biochemical Sciences. 2018. 14:55-61. 

3. Puckette M. How much sugar in wine? https://winefolly.com/deep-dive/sugar-in-wine-chart/. [Online]. 2022.

4. Guyton & Hall. Effect of insulin on fat metabolism. Textbook of Medical Physiology. Eleventh Edition. 2006. p96.