8 Ways to Support Your Gut Health and Feel Great over the Holidays
It’s that time of year again! Ramping up for the holiday season can be fun with all the pretty lights, gathering of friends and family and drinking hot chocolate….but for many the holidays can bring additional stress specifically around meal time! (and especially if you’re in the middle of a gut protocol or following a more restrictive diet where you can’t just binge on all the treats and alcohol).
There are many ways that you can support your digestion over the holidays so you can feel your best and actually enjoy all the events and dinners without ending up super bloated, gassy, fatigued and feeling like you never want to see food again.
Here are some of my top easy to implement suggestions for supporting your digestion over the holidays:
1. Reduce Bloating with Digestive Enzyme Rich Foods
Digestive enzymes help break down your food into small building blocks, which make it easier for your body to absorb and utilize nutrients. Many of the processed and cooked foods that are a tradition over the holidays (think buns, dressing, mashed potatoes, cooked vegetables) are low in digestive enzymes.
Aim to focus on getting enzyme rich food with every meal for optimal digestion. Foods rich in digestive enzymes include live, real, whole foods (ie. Fresh fruits and vegetables), raw, unpasteurized honey, fermented foods and foods that naturally contain higher amounts of enzymes including pineapple, ginger, papaya and kiwi.
Some people may need a bit extra support with larger, heavier holiday meals. Supplementing with digestive enzymes is another great option to help reduce that super full feeling after eating as well as providing additional support to your liver, gall bladder and pancreas to help break down meals higher in carbs and fats.
One of the easiest ways to reduce bloating though is to avoid overeating (which I know is hard with all the delicious food!) If you’re able to focus on enjoying conversation with family or friends and slowing down the pace of eating, you’ll be able to monitor your body’s signals better and can stop eating before you’re stuffed.
Fermented foods are one of the best sources of digestive enzymes
2. Keep Anxiety at Minimum with Blood Sugar Balancing
It can be easy to get stuck on a roller coaster of mood swings, irritability and anxiety over the holidays with all the additional sugar, increased alcohol, late nights with poor sleep and early morning coffees.
One of the best ways to keep anxiety at bay is to stabilize your blood sugar. You can do this by:
a. Not skipping and eating a high protein breakfast (ex. eggs, salmon patties, chicken sausages with veggies)
b. Eat balanced meals throughout the day (protein, fat & fiber at every meal)
c. Avoid eating sweets on an empty stomach (have your dessert after a meal instead of before)
d. Drink alcohol with a meal or after you’ve eaten (especially wine!). The best types of alcohol to minimize blood sugar impacts will be spirits like vodka, gin and tequila with soda or a low-no sugar mix.
e. Drink coffee after you’ve had a high protein breakfast. Caffeine is a stimulant. By switching around the timing of your coffee, it helps reduce the impact on your nervous system.
3. Minimize Gas with Proper Eating Habits
Eating habits create the foundation for a well functioning digestive system. Our modern, fast paced world significantly impacts our digestion by speeding through meals resulting in undigested food, which can lead to increased gas and bloating. Here are 4 eating habits you can implement to improve digestion:
Chew food thoroughly: the more you chew, the less food sits and ferments in your stomach (which results in gas and bloating). Aim for 50 chews per bite of food!
Eat only when relaxed: your body cannot digest when it’s stressed. Try some deep breathing before meals for a quick and effective way to relax your body.
Avoid distractions while eating: your body can only focus on 1 thing at a time so be present with your meal (hopefully phones are away at a holiday meal!)
Gratitude and mindful eating: taking time to pause before a meal helps bring you to the present and be more mindful when eating
I’ve written an entire blog post on eating habits. If this is something you want to dive into more, check out my blog post 5 Ways to Improve Your Gut Health WITHOUT Changing What You Eat
4. Reduce Nausea with Gall bladder & Liver Support
Overeating and eating meals higher in saturated fat can result in nausea for some people. Liver and gall bladder supportive herbs help stimulate bile production which helps to emulsify fat. If these organs aren’t functioning optimally you may not be producing enough bile, so your body struggles to break down fat and may lead to nausea.
It can be beneficial to incorporate more liver and gall bladders supportive foods and herbs over the holidays to help these organs function better.
Herbal detox teas including milk thistle, artichoke, dandelion, turmeric can be a simple addition to sip on throughout the holiday season. Bitter foods also help stimulate the liver and gall bladder. Try incorporating bitter foods into your meals including arugula, dandelion greens, lemon juice, artichoke, kale, radicchio and broccoli. Being mindful of your alcohol intake and drinking with meals can also help support these organs.
Herbal detox teas support liver and gall bladder function
5. Avoid dehydration with Trace Minerals
Your body uses up minerals to help process and detoxify all the extra alcohol you may be drinking during holiday parties, making you more deficient and feeling more dehydrated.
Minerals are super important for many different daily functions in the body including digestion, muscle contraction, proper nervous system function, maintenance of blood pressure levels and so many more! The 4 key minerals you want to replenish are electrolytes calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium.
A simple at home trick to up your mineral intake is adding a pinch of salt (ideally Celtic or Real Salt) to your water bottle and shaking it until it dissolves. If your hungover or feeling extra stressed, the best time would be to have this first thing in the morning before you’ve eaten to help support your adrenal glands. Alternatively, you can purchase trace minerals at your local health food store to add to your water.
6. Stop heartburn & Stimulate digestion with Apple Cider Vinegar
Holiday’s and heartburn seem to go hand in hand for many people…think about it, so many of the heartburn trigger foods are consumed over Christmas! Chocolate, peppermint, carbonated drinks, fried foods, heavy fatty meals are all some of the WORST foods for heartburn.
Often times people can experience heartburn due to low acid levels (sufficient acid is needed for the esophageal sphincter to close properly) in their stomach and when eating the foods noted above, can make heartburn worse. For a more detailed explanation on this, check out our blog post on Gut Health 101: Why is Gut Health so Important?
By drinking 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar in ½ glass of water before a meal, it ensures that there’s enough acidity in the stomach for the esophageal sphincter (the valve between the stomach and esophagus) to function properly and stay closed.
For some people who experience heartburn regularly, this may not be enough to help resolve the issue. Herbal bitters or betaine hydrochloric acid may be needed for a stronger stimulation of stomach acid and digestive enzymes. I recommend speaking to a knowledgeable practitioner to determine if you need the extra support.
Apple cider vinegar to improve heartburn
7. Minimize Stress with deep breathing (meditation, walking, yoga etc.)
Sometimes visiting family can be triggering for some and the though of going home for the holidays is stressful. Working on mindset and nervous system relaxation can be beneficial leading up to and during the holidays.
Deep breathing is the most effective and fastest way to shift your body from a stressed state to a relaxed state. Counting while breathing also helps distract the mind by focusing on the breath and bringing the mind to a more present moment. Other great alternatives include yoga, meditation, chi gong, getting a massage etc. I also love the Insight Timer app to help deal with difficult emotions that may arise around family.
8. Stay Energized by Moving your Body
I know one of the hardest things for me during the holidays is keeping up with exercise. It can be tough when you’re out of routine or your home environment or far away from your gym.
But physical activity helps increase blood flow to the digestive system, improving your body’s ability to break down food and absorb nutrients. With all the heavier and larger meals, exercise will help to better support digestion so you can feel your best.
Some suggestions include doing exercise first thing in the morning so you get it over with and can relax the rest of the day, bundling up and going for a walk (especially if you don’t have access to a gym), doing a family activity like tobogganing or snow shoeing that get’s the blood flowing!
Now let’s also not forget the food itself!
There are SO many healthier alternatives for traditional recipes that you can try and still have your family happy and satisfied. A little trick I’ve done is to make a new dish without mentioning that it’s gluten, dairy or sugar free (that usually get a few backs up right away!). Often no one will notice and usually I hear after dinner that the new recipe is better than the old one I used to make!
If you’re the one hosting and in control of dinner it will be a bit easier to choose gut supportive food than if you’re visiting friends or family. I usually bring a side dish or two and a salad that I know makes me feel good so I’m only having minimal amounts of other dishes that may upset my stomach.
I want you and your family to feel you best this holiday season! I’ve decided to share a little Christmas gift to you (and your gut!) so that you’re not stuck sitting here thinking “I have no idea how to start making healthy Christmas recipes”…
Download a copy of my FREE Healthy Holiday Recipe Book. You can access it right away by clicking here
Merry Christmas!
By Krista Znebel, R.H.N.©
December 11, 2023