The silly season is here and it’s time to celebrate. While it’s soulful and nourishing to embrace the festive season, here are some tips to remind us that nothing is more important than healthy living.
Morning cleanse
Start your day with with a warm glass of water. Add some lemon or a few teaspoons of a supergreen powder, such as vital or raw greens, to alkalise. This will help cleanse your digestive system and liver from the previous night’s indulgences. Try to avoid drinking coffee on an empty stomach as it causes inflammation of the gut and puts extra stress on the adrenals; put some food or a smoothie in your tummy first!
Nourish your liver
Make sure you nurture and protect your liver over the festive season. Take St. Mary’s Thistle as a daily supplement to help detoxify your liver from alcohol toxins and rich, fatty foods. Include foods in your diet that support liver detox pathways such as broccoli, turmeric, grapefruit, leafy greens, avocado and garlic. Drink at least one cup of roasted dandelion root tea everyday – a great liver tonic.
Choose your alcohol wisely
If you indulge, indulge wisely! If you are a wine drinker, opt for organic and choose red wine over white as it is less acidic. Vodka, soda and fresh lime is a much better option than an alcopops, which are loaded of sugar – did you know that on average alcopops contain around 5 teaspoons of sugar?! Mixing your whiskey/ bourbon with water or soda is also far healthier than soft drinks. Try to limit your drinks to no more than three a night and drink plenty of filtered water to hydrate and flush away toxins.
Alkalise
Indulging in red meats, processed foods, ETOH and sweets during the festive season creates acidity in the body, which then causes inflammation. Aim to alkalise your system as much as you can to reduce any of those toxic symptoms. To alkalise, think “green”: green vegetable juices, green smoothies and green leafy veggies washed down with alkalised water.
Get moving!
Keep your body moving to keep your digestive system flowing and your mood vibrant. Squeeze in a run or a 45-minute yoga session in the morning before everyone has woken up. Otherwise try some fun family activities such as a soccer game, a group walk in nature or a family swim in the sea. This way you can keep fit and spend some quality time in one swoop.
Antioxidants in action
Considering it is a time for free radicals to be flying high, keep up your antioxidant-rich foods to fight them off. These include berries, avocado, acai, beetroot, spinach, walnuts, almonds, cashew nuts and artichokes, to name a few. If you want a super charge of antioxidants, supplement with half a tablespoon of NAC (n-acetyl cysteine) in water, twice a day. This is the precursor to glutathione – the most powerful antioxidant of them all.
Shop consciously
Instead of buying food from big corporations, with terrifyingly long shelf lives, buy from local farmers and stores to support a fresh local community. These foods will have less chemicals, preservatives and other harmful substances. It is also great to buy gifts from local artists and creatives, and circulate the giving within your community.
Practice self love and forgiveness
If you have a ‘naughty’ day and eat or drink things that you might regret – don’t worry about it! Let it go as a guilt-free indulgence day. Stressing about what you have ingested is probably unhealthier for you than what you actually ate. Raised cortisol levels put great stress on your body and can even increase weight gain. Just enjoy this time and remember that life is for living.
Be Thankful!
Don’t forget to thank your God or higher source of power for all the gifts you already have, such as family, food, shelter and life. This time is not really about presents and feasts, but rather about gratitude and a chance to share time and express love to the people you care about the most. Don’t get swept up with all the outside stuff and over consumerism. Life is too unpredictable to take these times for granted, so make every second count.