Did you know we consume on average 6000 calories on Christmas Day alone?? That’s 3 times the recommended daily intake for women!!! Of course we’re all prone to a some indulgence at Christmas, but gluten, dairy, alcohol, sugar, rich food in general + overeating /overdrinking play havoc with our digestion, leaving us bloated, uncomfortable, lethargic, prone to getting sick and wanting to crop ourselves out of photos😆
>> Download our 9 Christmas Treats to beat the bloat (the whole family will love!)
There are a variety of reasons why the holidays create more tummy troubles than the rest of the year:
- You often eat more than you usually would, putting pressure on the digestive system.
- You might be drinking a lot more when you eat – whether it’s water, red wine or prosecco it actually dilutes stomach acid, making it harder to properly digest your food.
- More rich, creamy foods than you’re used to can trigger heartburn or reflux or else make IBS symptoms worse.
Having said all of that, I have put together, just for you, some expert tips to trouble-proof your tummy this Christmas:
GO EASY ON THE USUAL SUSPECTS
If you do not know yet, gluten & dairy (especially lower quality) are huge contributors to bloating so a simple easy advice is to go for alternatives if there are any/if you want to.
USE YOUR SENSES
The first step in the digestive process is often overlooked, but it’s a really important one. Known as the cephalic phase, it’s triggered when you see or smell food. You are literally whetting your appetite.
When you start thinking about the lovely meal you are going to prepare, you are getting your digestive juices flowing (hence why people who eat out and take away often might have digestive troubles!). The enzymes in your saliva help you break down your food more easily, so, when the time comes, your body is actually ready to start digesting food before you have even cut the first slice – never mind actually put anything in your mouth.
It may sound an incredibly simple step – and it is – but these days we are often so busy that we don’t make the time to think about our food in this way. If you find you’re always eating on the go, throwing a sandwich down your neck at your desk or having a TV dinner TV, this is a vital step you are missing out on. One trick is to be mindful and try and spend a few minutes thinking about your tasty lunch before you eat it to get the digestive juices going:-)
CHEW YOUR FOOD
Remember what Mum used to say? Well, she was right! Chewing your food (the second phase of digestion) is key when it comes to good gut health. With proper chewing, you are mechanically breaking down the food into smaller pieces, so that there’s a greater surface area and the digestive enzymes can get to work more easily, doing their job.
And the bad news? If you’re not chewing properly, it’s highly likely that you’re not digesting your food properly. And that means you won’t be absorbing the vital nutrients either. Not chewing also means the food you eat takes much longer to break down, and, as it hangs around in your digestive system, it can start to ferment, causing uncomfortable wind, gas and bloating.
Don’t worry so much about chewing a certain number of times – that all depends on what you are eating and various other factors. Instead try this test: chew your food enough so that if someone asked you to spit it out, they wouldn’t know what you had been eating. Or until it’s almost liquid, remember your stomach has no teeth! Another sign you need to chew more is if you start to see undigested food in your stools.
BALANCE YOUR STOMACH ACID
Sales for heartburn tablets are skyrocketing because so many people wrongly assume that their digestive troubles are because of too much stomach acid. What nutritionists like me find more frequently in clinic is the total opposite! Getting older, stress and some over-the-counter medications can make your stomach acid levels drop to the extent that you don’t produce enough to digest food sufficiently.
Why is this important? The stomach acid you produce not only kills any bacteria in the food you are eating, it also breaks down the protein in your meal. If you’re not properly digesting the protein element in food, it can start to ferment, creating gases that force up the esophageal sphincter muscle (a type of muscle flap) and what little stomach acid there is can escape. So the burning feeling, especially if accompanied by smelly gas, can be a sign your digestion isn’t working as well as it should be.
One solution is to have a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar before each main meal. It’s important you choose a raw and oraganic apple cider vinegar with the ‘mother’ at the bottom as that’s the key element to it! This one is great. There are people who genuinely produce too much stomach acid and, if you try the apple cider vinegar trick and it seems to make things worse, you can neutralise the acid by taking a little bicarbonate of soda.
TAKE DIGESTIVE ENZYMES OR BITTER HERBS
Digestive enzymes break down our food into nutrients so our bodies can absorb them. But as we age, we naturally produce fewer of these helpful enzymes. You can counteract this by increasing your intake of foods that are higher in digestive enzymes – eating pineapple or papaya before a meal can help. If you aren’t a fan of these fruits, instead try a digestive enzyme supplement or better yet bitter herbs (available from health food shops), which will give your system a gentle boost to help it do its job properly.
TIME OUT
It’s important to space out your meals so the digestive system actually gets a chance to rest! This might require some self discipline if your house is routinely full of bowls of nuts or towers of chocolate boxes during the xmas party season:-)
Eating every 3-4 hours is a good benchmark to aim for, and gives the body enough time to completely digest the previous meal and have a break before you put it to work again. Of course there will be days when your eating routine falls out of whack, but don’t beat yourself up. Just try and get back on track the following day.
WALK IT OFF
When you walk shortly after you’ve eaten, magic starts to happen. To start, a gentle walk lowers your blood sugar levels, so your body makes less insulin. As insulin is the fat-storage hormone, taking a gentle stroll for 15 minutes makes you less likely to store fat and gain weight. Walking can also help you digest your food better, according to research. This is because a gentle walk increases the speed at which the food moves through the digestive system.
So now that you have the fool-proof script for what to do this Christmas, I have to persuade you to go ahead and try! The mindset it THE MOST important part of making some changes. If you have been struggling with digestive problems for a while, book yourself in for a free chat HERE.
Sometimes it is easier to hide away and pretend we are not suffering inside. But, for whatever reason, your symptoms have led you here! My job is to help you understand what might be going on in your gut and take greater steps towards resolving your tummy troubles, NOT just for Christmas, but once and for all! CHECK HERE TO SEE HOW I WILL HELP YOU!
All the best of Health,
Audrey