Experts: 4 Ways to Savor the Season and Avoid Digestive Drama

It’s possible to stay on your routine and minimize stress while avoiding overeating and indulging in too many rich foods with mindful eating tips.
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Common holiday behaviors that tax our digestive systems include eating outside our routines, eating while stressed, overeating, and eating dishes that are richer than usual. Fortunately, these behaviors are fairly simple to adjust.

Yes, you can still enjoy new foods, holiday parties, and a bit of indulgence. Two experts offer easy suggestions to balance the desire to celebrate with simple strategies to avoid problems. The goal is to keep gut symptoms from interfering with life during a time of year rife with digestive challenges.

Keep a Routine

The good news is you can toss the elaborate and exotic recipes that you were tempted to try and give yourself permission to stick with a basic meal. Doing so checks two boxes: It’s less stressful, and you’re guaranteed one dish that you know you love to prepare and eat.

Simplicity is one of the key ingredients to navigating this season of indulgence. You don’t need a complicated blueprint that guides every health decision between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, according to Nir Salomon, director of integrative gastroenterology at Sheba Medical Center.

“I’m a big believer in small things. I really think that’s important. A lot of times we think we need a big plan to navigate through the holidays, but actually, if you focus on a few things, you’re going to have a bigger effect,” he told The Epoch Times.

Our gastrointestinal (GI) system operates best with a monotonous rhythm. Salomon said to eat the same general types of meals you normally eat, and at the times you usually do.

That might mean you don’t eat at an event that’s in between your mealtimes or offers only snacks. Nibbling—whether a few bites in between meals or a constant dribble of eating throughout the day—might seem harmless during the holidays, but it takes a toll.

Nibbling is a disruptive habit that can cause symptoms such as gas and bloating, Salomon said. That’s because the GI tract begins to secrete digestive juices at the first bite.

“The digestive system likes to be full and then empty itself, then be full and empty itself,” he said.

“Each meal requires a whole digestive process with enzymatic activity. For instance, if you take a bite of an apple, the digestive system doesn’t know if there’s going to be a whole meal after this or just a bite.”

Our appetite follows a pattern governed by the body’s circadian rhythm—a pattern tied to our cycle of wake, sleep, and energy production in the body. Maintaining this rhythm helps our body stay energized during the day and prepares us to sleep at night. Circadian rhythm disruptions, meanwhile, can cause metabolic consequences and make us prone to conditions such as Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and obesity, according to a review in Current Opinion in Biotechnology.

Researchers found that while shift workers normally suffer health consequences from a mismatch in rhythms, even smaller disruptions are problematic.

“Milder shifts in sleep and mealtimes, termed social and eating jetlag, are highly prevalent in the general population. Social and eating jetlag results in later mealtimes, which may promote positive energy balance and weight gain,” the authors wrote.

Eating too close to bedtime can also cause heartburn or acid reflux, Salomon said.

If you don’t normally eat many different foods, the holidays aren’t the time to try everything you see, he said. Eating just two or three familiar foods is more gentle on digestion, and sticking to foods that you already know you can tolerate is a good way to eat for a day or two after overdoing it.

Manage Stress

Because stress can stall digestion—resources are diverted from the GI tract when our nervous system is stuck in “fight or flight” mode—it’s best to have a consistent stress management plan through the year-end.

“That means if you can have some movement or activity during the day, that releases tension from the nervous system. It doesn’t need to be a long walk. It can be for 10 minutes,” Salomon said.

“It’s really important to plan ahead and see that you’re not putting too much on yourself at this time. Try to see where you can have breaks during periods of more intense stress.”

Salomon recommends a short breathing or meditation session every day. It doesn’t need to be long or complex or require experience. Using meditation apps and breathing exercise videos online can suffice.

A systematic review in the Indian Journal of Integrative Medicine notes that yoga, meditation, and breathing exercises can help with GI disorders such as reflux, irritable bowel syndrome, and constipation.
“Physiological changes in this relaxation response include simultaneous lowering of pulse rate, blood pressure, and respiratory rate, which are opposite manifestations of stress. Increase in stress has shown to increase gastric-acid secretion, this is a direct risk factor for developing gastric and duodenal ulcer,” the authors wrote.

Avoid Overeating

Eating too much—even if you’re able to tolerate a variety of foods—also causes problems. You can enjoy holiday flavors and meals with loved ones without stuffing yourself, according to Lena Bakovic, a registered dietitian nutritionist specializing in gut health.

“Overeating can not only produce the more obvious gastrointestinal side effects such as bloating and gas, but it can also feel tremendously uncomfortable,” she told The Epoch Times in an email.

“We can all probably relate to, or remember, a feeling of being uncomfortably stuffed, almost to the point of maybe even feeling nauseous after overeating.”

Overeating, even on occasion, can cause pain, indigestion, weight gain, and changes in hunger cues, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Social situations can drive overeating because of the pressure to eat, as well as feelings of nervousness or distraction.
There’s a rather easy way to avoid overeating, Bakovic said, and that’s by eating more intuitively. She suggested mindful techniques such as:
  • Noticing when you are full and stopping
  • Chewing food slowly
  • Not eating while distracted
  • Noticing tastes and textures with each bite
  • Sipping water during your meal

Limit Rich Foods

Finally, be aware of the richness of both packaged and homemade foods this time of year. During the holidays, most supermarkets and gatherings are smorgasbords of foods that are very high in sugar, fat, and salt.

While you can certainly eat a bit without catastrophe, if you eat too much, expect some GI symptoms such as bloating, gas, and fluid retention, according to Bakovic.

“Intuitive and mindful eating can be helpful here as well,” she said. “One of the tenets of intuitive eating is to not label foods as good or bad, and instead recognize that all foods can be enjoyed in moderation.”

However, eating too much sugar can change the makeup of your gut microbiome—the bacteria, viruses, and fungi that inhabit your intestines—and put you at risk for diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, and other disorders, according to an editorial in Nutrients.

“The detrimental effects of poor diet are in part mediated by gut microbiota, whose composition, functionality and metabolic end products respond to dietary changes,” author Reetta Satokari of the University of Helsinki wrote.

It might be helpful, Bakovic said, to view the holiday food you eat through a lens of how it provides fuel, which can help you naturally prioritize healthy food.

“Simply recognizing that some foods hold more nutritional value than others may be a helpful way to think about how we eat year-round,” she said.

Amy Denney
Author
Amy Denney is a health reporter for The Epoch Times. Amy has a master’s degree in public affairs reporting from the University of Illinois Springfield and has won several awards for investigative and health reporting. She covers the microbiome, new treatments, and integrative wellness.
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