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How to keep healthy after the holiday season

Health
 Photo: Courtesy

Dear doctor,

I am enjoying myself to the maximum this holiday season. I have stocked up with plenty of food and drink and lots of other foods that I crave. Considering it’s only a few days, will it really have a huge impact on my health if I eat and drink whatever I fancy?

Myra

Dear Myra,

We are indeed in a festive season, which comes after nearly eleven and a half long months. Plenty of reason to want to lean back, put your feet up and just enjoy the moments. It won’t last long, and you can therefore make justifications to just be carefree and do whatever you fancy. But in matters of health, there is always a knock-on effect, either in the short-term or long term.

Your behaviour this holiday season will mold your health well beyond the festive days. Let’s begin with what you will choose to eat. The healthiest choices are complex carbohydrates, vegetables, fruits and, white and non-processed lean meats.

All other alternatives are so tempting, but have a greater negative impact on your health. Unhealthy junk may be tastier, trendier, or whatever. But this will up your body weight in the short-term, and take you on a path to increased risk of diabetes, heart diseases and some cancers.

Stocking up with drinks is all good, so long as you have selected the healthier ones. That means freshly pressed fruit juices and lots of water. Your stock should have less of fizzy and sweetened drinks, and even less of alcoholic drinks.

You may argue that you have only drank sparingly the last 11 months, and you want to make up for the deficit this holiday season. Well, you would be wrong as it would mean excessive drinking within a few days. That is called binge drinking, and is associated with acute intoxication in the short-term. Worse long term effects can damage your liver and other organs, leaving you chronically unwell.

You are better off with some sort of balanced enjoyment. You can argue a case for eating and drinking anything you want in moderation. That means some small bits of unhealthy junk, the occasional fizzy drink, and even some moderated alcoholic drinks.

Being aware of the limits that cannot be exceeded is unlikely to have any significant impact on your health. This is especially so if you are keenly aware of the need to burn off any excess calories that you might end up imbibing.

Whatever you end up doing with the festivities, take some moments when it’s all over to review your reproductive health status. Make some concrete plans to be healthier this year. Long term health strategies will pay off as the year advances.

Choose to get new symptoms checked up quickly, and keep all your screening tests up to date.

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