Day: December 21, 2016

It’s easy to indulge during holiday season – that’s kind of what the season is for, to celebrate (and with food). Nothing wrong with enjoying your holiday favourites, but exercise some self-control lest you want to pay the price next year. Over-indulgence never helped anybody, and it certainly won’t help you. Some common culprits:

Sweets – Cakes, biscuits, eggnog, hot cocoa… all very tasty but can aggravate any ongoing conditions that skate dangerously on diabetes or blood disorders. Digestion can also be affected; sweet before savoury can curb appetite, which means proper nutrition isn’t being followed.

Alcohol – If a glass of red wine helps, holiday parties always go overboard with beer before liquor. Alcohol acts the same way as sugar spikes in the bloodstream; pancreas are overworked and insulin production is overloaded. Liver functions are affected, and kidneys may also suffer because alcohol, though a liquid, can dehydrate the body.

Fats – Healthful fats are needed by the brain, but in the absence of healthful fats, the brain will cling to any fat, even if it’s unhealthful. If you’re “running” from task to task, event to event, person to person – you’re probably not actually running… and getting enough exercise. But you might be eating a lot of food, and if you’re staying away from sweets, there might be more fats in your diet than you realize.

There’s no sense to restrict yourself from enjoying the holiday season, but there’s no reason to let it destroy your brain either.