December is here and it’s the favourite time of the year for most of us. We get long holidays to meet and spend some quality time with our friends and family. And most important of all is the festive food. So, here is the thing that I want to talk about –— the after-effects of binging. Apart from celebrations, this time of the year also calls for stomach issues like bloating, acidity and constipation among several others. So let’s look at how we can manage our gut health during these festivities:
Issue: Alcohol intake makes the body acidic and if we are binge drinking chronically then it increases the stomach acid drastically which can then irritate the gut lining and this can lead to inflammation known as gastritis and can also leache out calcium from bones making it very brittle.
Solution: Let’s stick to moderation and avoid aerated drinks with your alcohol.
■ Try to drink a glass of warm lemon water at the start, in between and at the end of an alcoholic drink to keep the body alkaline.
■ Choose healthy accompaniments when drinking alcohol like raw or cooked veggies or unsalted nuts as they help in keeping the body alkaline and reduce acidity. Fried and salted nuts can lead to water retention and bloating in the body.
■ It’s important to eat first and then drink so that your stomach is partially full and you end up drinking much less.
Issue: Our body isn’t designed to digest food late at night, which leads to indigestion, acidity and bloating. Our metabolism slows down at night which can also make the body store extra fat.
Solution: Include a good portion of veggies (cooked or raw) to fill your tummy partially and then choose another option that is available during the feast. Veggies will fill and add fibre to improve stomach health and when your stomach is partially full, you end up having a lower quantity of other options.
■ Take one tsp mixture of ajwain, cumin, fennel seeds immediately after your meal and chew well to get digestive enzymes to improve digestion. and control bloating.
■ Try to keep your meal timings the same for five out of seven days. Finish your meals early so that you can enjoy your late-night dining during the two days of festivities.
■ Avoid water with a meal as it dilutes digestive juices and can increase acidity. Water should be 30 minutes before or after the meal. But try to keep up with your water intake during the day.
Issue: Late night parties are also going to affect the sleep cycle and once sleep gets affected, the entire healing, repair, recovery, detoxification cycle will get affected badly too.
Solution: Try to sleep well on five out of seven days to rest and recover the gut issues. In addition, try to catch up with your sleep on days when you are not going for late-night commitments.