Gut Health During Festive Feasting: Your Guide to Supporting Digestion
The festive season is synonymous with indulgent feasts, rich treats, and social gatherings centred around food and drink - think rich and fatty meals, sugar-laden treats, alcohol, and larger portion sizes. While this is a time to celebrate and enjoy these delicious spreads, the sudden change in eating habits can slow digestive processes and irritate the gut, leading to symptoms like bloating, gas, indigestion, and changes to bowel motions. The good news? You don’t have to skip the festivities to keep your gut happy. Here’s a comprehensive guide to supporting your digestive health during the holidays.
Start the day with a balanced, gut friendly breakfast
Focus on fibre to keep things moving: enjoy a chia seed pudding loaded with fresh seasonal fruits, nuts and seeds, and a dollop of your favourite nut butter.
Prioritise protein to promote satiety: add good quality Greek yoghurt to your chia pudding, or start the day with a smoothie with Greek yoghurt, mixed berries, chia seeds, and coconut water for hydration. If you’re a savoury breakfast person, consider eggs, smoked salmon, or even homemade beans on wholegrain toast.Stay hydrated
As simple as it sounds, water is essential for aiding healthy digestion. Aim for 2.5-3L per day, more if your intake of alcohol or caffeine is higher thank usual.
Start your meals with digestive aids
A tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in a small amount of water is an incredible tool to stimulate stomach acid production and support digestive processes. There are also an array of highly effective herbs we can prescribe in the clinic such as ginger, gentian, and globe artichoke.Practise mindful eating
The digestive process begins before food even enters our mouths. Eating mindfully ensures that you produce adequate enzymes and stomach acid to break down your food. Some mindful eating tips include: sit down with your meal, eliminate distractions - turn the TV off and put your phone down, eat slowly, chew your food thoroughly until it forms a paste in your mouth.Where possible and realistic, balance your plate
Luckily, some festive table classics mean that it can be super straight forward to build a balanced plate of food. For example -
Fibre-rich vegetables: Brussels sprouts, carrots, green beans, broccoli, and leafy greens
Include a protein: chicken, turkey, seafood, ham
Healthy fats: avocado, nuts and seeds, olive oil - all of the perfect ingredients for a festive salad - plus fatty fish such as salmon
Plus a source of carbs: potatoes and sweet potatoes, homemade bread rolls, pumpkinUse food as medicine
Typical festive flavours are also wildly beneficial when we’re thinking about gut health. Things like fennel and fennel seeds, fresh herbs such as mint and parsley, and fresh lemon juice drizzled over meals can also support various areas of digestion, and reduce adverse symptoms. A few small inclusions can make a world of difference!Move your body
It can be difficult to maintain your usual exercise routine during this time, but aim to incorporate movement where you can, especially after a big meal. Movement can promote digestion and reduce bloating by helping to stimulate gastric motility. Even 10-15 minutes of light activity can make a difference. This could be a leisurely stroll or bike ride with the family, and back yard game, or a few rounds of charades.Incorporate herbal teas
Plenty of pantry-staple teas can support digestion, soothe your gut, and reduce bloating. Consider sipping on peppermint tea, ginger tea, chamomile tea, fennel tea, and liquorice root tea - or a mix!Let your food digest for half an hour before going back for seconds or thirds
Don’t get me wrong, I am absolutely an advocate for indulging and enjoying the feast without restriction or guilt, but reducing the load on your stomach and digestive tract gives it time to process, preventing bloating and indigestion.
It’s also always great to have a few tools to reach for in acute cases where you need a quick fix!
Bloating: sip peppermint tea, do some gentle stretching - you can even follow along with this flow, gentle abdominal massage
Acid reflux and indigestion: sip marshmallow root tea or aloe vera juice, stay upright after eating and avoid lying down, start your meals with digestive aids
Constipation: increase your water and fibre intake, do some gentle stretching, and reach out to your naturopath for some on-hand options such as high dose magnesium citrate, fibres, and herbs.
Feeling overly full or heavy: a gentle post-meal walk can aid quicker gastric emptying, but this is also where herbal bitters and digestive aids can support - reach out to our team!
Nausea: sip ginger tea, stimulate the Nei Guan (PG) acupressure point, and sip ice cold liquids
When to seek professional help
It’s a great idea to get in touch with our team before the silly season kicks off to get yourself stocked with all the essentials you might need - personalised digestive herbs and nutrients, nutrition advice, and a thorough support plan. If you find that digestive discomfort persists beyond the holiday season or becomes chronic, it may indicate an underlying issue such as dysbiosis, SIBO, or intestinal permeability. Consulting with our team can help identify the root cause and develop a personalised treatment plan.
Enjoying festive feasts doesn’t have to come at the expense of your gut health or comfort. By incorporating these strategies, you can savour the holiday season while keeping bloating, indigestion, and the likes at bay.
