My 6 top tips to help you feel your best this Christmas

‘Tis the season to be jolly, falalalalaaalalalalaaa!

Iʼm so glad Christmas is coming as I get to embrace comfort food, (dark) chocolate and wine and not feel guilty about it. BUT what goes up, must come down and the horrible hangover and bloated feeling soon kick in.

So to combat the winter blues my 6 top tips for feeling your best this festive season are:

1. Breakfast is key

Start the day with a healthy breakfast eg. Eggs and avocado on rye bread for healthy fats and protein or porridge topped with berries, nut butter, and cinnamon to help balance your blood sugars and stop you reaching for the sweet's all day. You could add a dollop of probiotic-rich yogurt to support the immune and digestive systems (which may be neglected due to the party season!).

2. Stay hydrated

You know your mother always tells you to drink more water? Well, guess what...she was right! Fluids carry nutrients to your cells, flush bacteria from your bladder, toxins from your kidneys and help to prevent constipation. Aim for 2L of water a day at least (unless advised otherwise by your Dr).

3. Alcohol advice

We all love a glass of mulled wine or Christmas cocktail but remember alcohol provides no nutritional value - in fact, it depletes us and can be full of empty calories. To avoid a hangover I suggest sticking to one type of drink. Clear liquors like gin, tequila or vodka have lower toxic congeners so are least likely to give you a hangover BUT the sugar in your mixer (coke/lemonade) may make you feel worse the next day. I suggest drinking water in between to dilute the effects. The enzymes that breakdown alcohol in the body require Zinc so fill up on meat, shellfish, legumes, nuts, and seeds. Alternatively take up to 25mg of Zinc daily, especially before and after drinking alcohol.

4. Love your liver

If youʼre drinking over Christmas you may want to support your liver to help detoxify any nasties which may make you feel hungover/unwell. Boost your intake of garlic, onions, cruciferous veg (broccoli, kale, cauliflower, brussel sprouts) to 3 portions a day. Dandelion root and milk thistle can also help speed up liver detoxification.

5. Donʼt forget the basic Bʼs

Christmas is a busy time for most trying to juggle work and social commitments and often our eating habits go out the window. Invest in a good quality multivitamin or B complex (vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, B12) that covers your basic biochemical needs. Alcohol depletes your B vitamins especially, which are vital in energy production (maybe why you feel so awful after a night on the town!). Take these once a day to ensure you are not nutritionally depleted.

6. Enjoy yourself

Stress is known to contribute to many health problems such as high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. Please donʼt be too hard on yourself this Christmas by stressing over what to eat! Enjoy the food, the drink and of course spending time with family and friends. Social connections have a major immune-boosting effect helping us stay healthy over winter. So turn off your smartphone, spend time with your favorite people and get well into those Christmas games!

I hope these tips help you have a great holiday season and I'd love to hear from you so please leave a comment below if you found this helpful.

In great health,

Lucy

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