By Dr. Abayomi Meeks

The holidays are festive occasions where there is usually plenty of food to eat.  As a matter of fact the holidays symbolize the ritual of families enjoying meals together.  This is a wonderful time where love, spirituality and sharing are magnified.  Of course, we all hope and pray for health and happiness, especially at this time of year. To be healthy during and after the holidays, we all need to exercise moderation in all of our holiday activities, especially the ritual of eating.

Almost any professional health practitioner, who has been in business for at least a few years, can confirm that there is an increase in many health issues immediately after the holidays in January, February and March.  Some diseases I have seen exacerbated after the holidays are: diabetes, colds, allergies, arthritis, gout, hypertension, obesity, alcoholism, etc. Particular conditions generally worsen after the holidays because of the excessive consumption of certain foods and drink, which are hard to metabolize in excess.  Many foods, traditionally eaten together in America at holiday time, should not be consumed together, and some just produce waste products, which are destructive to the body and mind.

For example, many families have a Thanksgiving menu, which consists of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, macaroni and cheese, hopefully some green vegetables, and then desserts consisting of sweet potato pie, cakes, etc. Added to this are high fructose or sugar drinks or juice and a variety of alcoholic beverages. I am not saying that you should not partake of the delicious foods and drink. Most would laugh in my face if I did. I would not blame you, if I were that judgmental and rigid, but I am not!!  What I propose is that you understand what you are eating and how it affects your mind and body.  Then, you can make your own choices based on your discipline and levels of tolerance.  So now, let’s talk about the foods themselves.

First, how to combine food is a very important science of eating.  The body digests certain foods more efficiently than others, and produces different enzymes to digest those foods (i.e. the enzyme protease breaks down proteins, while the enzyme cellulase breaks down vegetable fibers).  Think about how much more energy it takes for the digestive tract to send signals to the brain over and over again to alternate the excretion of various enzymes, based on the fact that we are eating a fork full of this then a fork full of that. It can cause heartburn, indigestion, gas, diarrhea, or constipation.

Second, many of the foods like turkey, chicken and white potatoes produce a substantial amount of uric acid as a waste product.  This impacts those people who have arthritis or gout since these diseases are also caused in part by uric acid build-up in the joints and surrounding tissues.    

Third, foods like sweet potato pie, potato salad, macaroni and cheese and corn bread are extremely mucus causing because of their high fat and/or sugar content.  These mucus-causing foods when poorly metabolized produce and exacerbate phlegm-congestive diseases like bronchitis, colds and allergies. 

Fourth, many chronic diabetics risk dangerous elevations in blood sugar levels.  Even   people who are not diagnosed diabetics can experience an acute episode of diabetes.  In both cases, diabetic shock is a possibility due to the body’s inability to metabolize all the sugar consumed, quickly and efficiently. 

Fifth, many people experience fatigue or drowsiness after these large meals, for two main reasons: 1) turkey is high in tryptophan, an amino acid that can make you feel drowsy; and 2) After eating, your blood sugar spikes from over-consumption of sweets, and you “crash” as blood sugar levels return to normal.  This abrupt, up-and-down movement of blood sugar levels also harms the adrenals resulting in adrenal fatigue (kidney depletion)

Sixth, the high sodium level of these foods will increase the blood pressure due to retention of sodium in the tissues and blood.  Resulting in the narrowing of blood vessels.  Thus, hypertension will be exacerbated.  Though you may be using medications to control blood pressure, sugar or cholesterol levels, over-eating rich foods will still cause dangerous elevations of these factors.  Moderation and pacing yourself is crucial to prevent these diseases during and immediately after the holidays.  

Remember to drink plenty of water and eat plenty of green vegetables.  Have fun but be conscientious and disciplined for a happy and healthy holiday season.

Blessing to you!

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