The silly season is upon us and usually includes the many festive gathering with family and friends. This often involves indulgent foods our body and a few too many beverages.
What can you do to help the body cope this silly season?
1. Look for healthy options that lay in front of you on the platters. Instead of the crackers, cheese and processed meats take the veggie sticks with dip or fruit. Take your own snack platter full of nutritious treats that you know your taste buds and digestion will enjoy.
2. Ask for soda and lime or an iced water in between drinks to re-hydrate and reduce the alcohol. Opt for a mocktail if they are available, or if you are hosting the party make them readily available to your guests. Big glass containers with cut up fruit and iced water looks great and is a welcome change on a hot day.
3. Choose wine that is a cleaner option. Biodynamic, organic and preservative free are readily available
now and will often lead to less hangover feeling due to less preservatives and additives in the manufacturing process. Often small batch wineries use less preservatives in the wine and less chemicals than the big companies. Many winery and brewery websites have information about their processes. Red wine may contain less added preservatives but often more natural occurring histamines so for allergy and people with skin issues red wine and champagne are usually best avoided.
4. When choosing drinks look for low sugar and no artificial sweetener options. There are a lot of sparkling waters and sodas that contain low to no sugar added. You can make your own 100% fruit based cordials and add to sparkling water.
4. For those with digestive issues due to all the great food and the over indulgence look to taking apple cider vinegar (1 tablespoon) in water before meals to enhance digestion or you can take digestive enzymes with meals to increase the bodies ability to digest those extra fats and carbohydrates. It is best to not eat fruit directly after the meal but to wait a while as the fruit can sit on the top of your meal and ferment causing gas & bloating.
5. A good probiotic is great to take to help keep the good bugs in check with all the summer viruses around, increased chance of tummy bugs with food left out in warm weather and the overindulgence in foods.
6. A little bit of love for your liver comes in handy to help prevent fatigue and bloating. Taking the juice of half a lemon in warm water on an empty stomach each morning is a great daily kick start, vegetable juice with beetroot and ginger or a liver loving herbal tea at night with dandelion and milk thistle.
7. A lot of the food and drink we consume is acidic so helping to alkalise the body with lots of green leafy veggies, some greens powder such as barley grass, wheat grass and spirulina added to your smoothie or lots of lemon and cucumber water during the day will help to keep the bodies pH in check.
So enjoy the festive season and look after your body so the new year can start off in a healthy way!
In health and happinesss
Kirsty