Staying healthy during the holidays can be tough!

Over the years, we have seen patients do either really well or not-so-great once mid-November hits……what follows are some holiday health tips that will give you the best chance of staying on track from the holidays, 2019 into 2020!

The ideas below go beyond the obvious suggestion of frequently washing one’s hands for 20 seconds or more…..

First and foremost, it’s easy to get unecessarily entangled in complex family dynamics which then can hamper one’s (and others’) health.  One may choose to keep conversations during holiday meals light and airy.  Heavy topics often simply get folks riled up and generally the following is true:  if someone has a different opinion than one’s own, it’s unfortunately NOT likely that voicing one’s opinion strongly will cause the other person’s mind to change, try as one may!  Might as well enjoy one’s time with family and friends by talking about important topics but not necessarily the “hot” topics that some may be enticed to voice in moments of quiet.

Second and also quite important is holiday healthy eating!  It is quite common for families to increase the number of trickier foods options put on the table, making it more difficult to stay healthy.  Such tricky options include sugar, sugar, sugar, deep fried foods, simple carbohydratess such as crackers and chips, dairy, dairy, dairy and deep-fried foods.  Did we mention sugar?  All of these food options are certain to cause after-effects….as a matter of fact if not immediate, the ancient physicians of Chinese Medicine noted that eating incorrectly in one season could cause one to be ill the next season!  So, to combat this, our suggestions would be to:

-take a look at holiday healthy recipes in other blogs on this site.

-bring to holiday events side dishes that are loaded with veggies and good, clean proteins.  This gives you chance to eat more of what you know is good and less of less healthy options on the table, all the while not offending your host!

-if you are going to eat sugars, be sure to eat complex carbohydrates and clean proteins immediately BEFOREHAND….this will stablilize blood sugar levels dramatically.

-if you choose to drink alcohol, avoid doing so on an empty stomach.  Eat complex carbohydrates and clean proteins before consuming any alcohol.

-finally…..as the ancients of Chinese Medicine have said, “everything in moderation” applies nicely to holiday eating.

Useful information galore on nutrition can be found here:  https://holisticacupuncture.net/health-newsletters/