‘Tis the season! I love all the holiday food and treats, cocktails and being merry with friends, but I have become more sensitive to sugar and prefer to limit dairy and gluten, which is challenging to do. Whether trying to avoid digestive discomfort, maintain a healthy weight, or have food intolerances, navigating holiday gatherings requires strategy.
For me, it is all about choice. I want to enjoy my favorite things, so I may forgo some other temptation. Opt for veggies with the charcuterie rather than crackers, or if the dessert isn’t looking worth it, maybe enjoy one more cocktail. It is best to limit the big 3: gluten, dairy, and sugar as they cause the most inflammation and discomfort.
Certainly, it is a time to “indulge” but mindfulness is important. It may not feel good to eat something that may trigger digestive disruptions steer you off track from your goals so being aware of your choices helps you to feel your best.
7 strategies, which may be familiar, and have worked for me in the past can help keep you feeling your best when celebrating this season:
- Stay away from Sugar – sugar inflames, causes blood sugar dysregulation, & cravings. Sugar is in everything, and we can’t control it all, but we can cut out added sugars from food products. Avoid coffee shop flavored drinks. Starbucks peppermint mocha has 54 g of added sugar (which is 13 teaspoons) World Health Organization recommends only 6 teaspoons. I would rather eat a cookie than get a cookie’s worth of sugar from my coffee.
- Goodbye, gluten – gluten is a protein found in wheat and is a gut disrupter whether celiac or not. Gluten activates zonulin which regulates gut lining permeability, causing leaky gut & inflammation. Determine which gluten dish (if you can tolerate) you will enjoy and keep other carbs to a minimum.
- Ditch the dairy since it can cause indigestion and heartburn. Most of the population has difficulty digesting dairy due to a few issues: sensitivity, lactose intolerance, and/or an allergy to protein in the milk. Cheese platters abound this time of year. Look for unpasteurized cheese for better flavor, fat and live cultures. Sheep and goat cheeses are typically easier for people to digest.
- Least popular truth: dial back the drinks – Alcohol inflames the gut lining, is bad for the brain, taxes the liver, interrupts sleep causing lots of stress on the body. Less is more: water in between drinks, opt for a spritzer, avoid sweet cocktails. Focus on clear liquors like vodka or tequila and limit mixers, opt for club soda instead. Bring flavored festive water to a party: orange slices, cinnamon, and cranberries.
- Have nutrient-dense, satisfying snack before an event. This prevents you from arriving ravenous filling up on appetizers or snacky, empty carbs. Quick snack options: celery & nut butter, turkey & pickles, apple with handful of raw walnuts or pumpkin seeds. There’s always bone broth which I discussed in this recent post.
- Get good sleep – Research has shown that sleep patterns influence the hormone responsible for hunger, ghrelin. Sleep-deprived adults tend to have higher levels of this hunger hormone, are hungrier, and feel less full compared to adults who get more sleep. Establishing a bedtime routine helps prepare the body for bed. Reducing blue light exposure at night also supports better sleep; blue light blocking glasses and adjusting phone settings can improve your ZZZZs.
- Go for a walk – 15 minutes of walking after a meal helps process glucose, managing blood sugar spikes. Walking is good to clear the mind and supports digestive motility as well.
To insure you can enjoy the meal, it is always best to bring your own food. Feel proud about taking good care of yourself and the opportunity to show others healthy eating habits. If you are looking for recipes, a helpful filter to use is “Paleo” or “Whole30 approved” options which will avoid refined sugars, dairy, and grains, the most common gut irritants. Below are some recipes that look flavorful, easy and will better support your goals in the coming weeks.
- Sugar-free bacon wrapped dates are a crowd-pleasing appetizer.
- Gluten-free stuffing mix is available so you can enjoy this top loved side.
- Mashed potatoes made with bone broth steeped with herbs like sage rosemary and thyme. Another dairy-free mashed potato option uses ghee which is clarified butter, without milk solids. Nutpods creamer is a dairy-free choice with a neutral flavor.
- Sweet potato dish using coconut milk or ghee, topped with pecans & coconut sugar.
- A bright winter salad like this one from Love & Lemons is a refreshing foil to heavier dishes.
- Naturally sweetened Cranberry sauce – with maple syrup, or coconut sugar. You can also use a no sugar added jam to balance the tartness of the berries.
Feeling your best should be the goal and I hope these suggestions may be useful to you this holiday season!
