Ways to Stay Healthy During the Holiday Season (From Overindulgence and Stress)

This holiday season, gather with family and friends, indulge, and raise a glass without thinking: “Oh my, I’m gonna feel this later.”

From Friendsgivings to New Year’s celebrations, we expect to enjoy ourselves.

But during these celebrations comes the inevitable: Unhealthy overeating and the indulgent of four-hour feasts and practically bottomless alcohol consumption.

So what can you do?

Well, instead of ringing in the New Year with the weight of guilt—and physical weight, to boot—learn to simply stay healthy during the holiday season, reduce the destruction, and manage the damage.

I promise—your body and mind will thank you!

Ways to Stay Healthy During the Holiday Season (From Overindulgence and Stress)

Supplement Your Digestive Tract

We meet for late dinners and catch-up with friends and distant relatives for great conversations that go even later.

However, these late meals and overeating that we tend to overlook during the holidays (purposely, of course) can wreak absolute havoc on your digestive system.

(C’mon, admit it—headed home after an enormous feast, you’ve passed gas silently in a cramped subway with an unflinching poker face.)

Instead, keep your digestive tract working at 100% and supplement your diet with activated charcoal, extra probiotics, digestive enzymes, and secret Chinese medicine formulas.

Activated Charcoal can relieve gas and bloating by essentially removing toxins from your body.  

Probiotics, basically good bacteria, can also help you maintain a healthy gut and help you digest food, as well as absorb more nutrients. In turn, this ensures the food nutrients are absorbed efficiently while keeping harmful bacteria at bay.

Digestive Enzymes should, in all honesty, be taken 30 minutes before a big meal. When you overindulge, these digestive enzymes will help break down proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.

Secret Chinese medicine formulas also aid to break down food. And don’t be intimidated by their preparation; the Naturna Institute prescribes herbs in the form of tinctures and pills.  Consult a Naturna practitioner for the best digestive formula for you during your next visit.

Eat Warm, Cooked Foods

Chinese medicine recommends eating raw food in the summer months and more cooked food during the winter months.

Why?

Because warm meals aid in digestion, allowing our bodies to save the internal energy normally used to heat the food.

Stay Active

In addition to cooked foods, it’s essential to stay active!

We get it—it’s so much easier to binge-watch Netflix and eat sugar cookies while staying bundled up under covers as the temps drop.

But you gotta break that unhealthy rut and stay active! Shift your mindset and convince yourself to put on that activewear.

If you prefer indoors, unroll the yoga mat and strike a pose or two. Yoga asanas are calming and excellent in aiding digestion, especially Shishuasana (Child’s pose) and Ustrasana (Camel pose).

If you prefer a bit more excitement, stick to simple movements and spend time on an elliptical, sign up for dance classes, or go ice-skating in the park to appreciate a fleeting winter sport.

In short—find enjoyment in the types of activities that appeal to your “Nah, just one more episode” attitude.

And hey! Take your Chinese herbal tea with you.

Schedule an Acupuncture Session

All of the above tips can aid our bodies and minds to stay functional and alert. However, sometimes our bodies just need a little extra acupuncture help during the winter.

Acupuncture already offers numerous benefits for our digestive health and in colder, wintry months, it offers even more assistance.

One of these benefits is kicking-up the recovery process when you experience changes in diet and activity levels. And what’s more chaotic to your diet and activity levels than this multi-month season of overindulgence and stress?

For example, when biting your tongue to keep the peace as you cope with particular family members you see only once this time of year, you might choose to either:

• Down that entire bottle of wine just to ease the nerves

or…

• Bottle it up inside (sometimes, quite literally)

Who are we kidding? Most are guilty of both by the time the holiday season wraps up.  

But the good news is that acupuncture can relieve both problems: The underlying stress which causes #1 and what gets bottled up which causes #2.

Yep, that Number Two.  

For many, acupuncture helps with both stress management and bowel movements, which can leave you feeling as fresh as the New Year.

So choose to de-stress this holiday season and put your digestive tract back into balance by scheduling an acupuncture session with Naturna today.

Your body will thank you!

P.S. Take a look at some of our Naturna staff’s favorite holiday and seasonal recipes to make yourself.

References:

Scientific opinion on the substantiation of health claims related to activated charcoal and reduction of excessive intestinal gas accumulation (ID 1938) and reduction of bloating (ID 1938) pursuant to Article 13(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006. (2011). European Food Safety Authority Journal, 9(4), 2049–2064. Retrieved from https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.2903/j.efsa.2011.2049