Overeating – Don’t Save It all For Christmas Day!

It’s Christmas time. There’s lot’s of reason for celebrations. Eat, Drink and be Merry….

food-sweet-cookies-christmas

Even before Christmas Day, it seems we are already feeling stuffed from all the Festive feasts. Let’s be honest, all of the “enjoyment” can’t be good for our digestive system.

The stomach is a muscular bag that sits inside the abdomen and it is usually no bigger than your fist when empty. It does have the ability to store more and increase in size if necessary. This can cause complications sometimes.

Our body has a very unique and complex way of informing us when we are hungry and full. Hormones. Two of the most important hormones are ghrelin and leptin. Ghrelin increases appetite and leptin decreases appetite. Over time, our bodies can quickly build up a resistance to Leptin. As you can imagine, this leads to us eating everything in sight.

Overeating causes indigestion, when the stomach acid churns up into the oesophagus. The stomach is “numb” to the acid but the oesophagus isn’t, which is why acid reflux burns.

An adult stomach can comfortably hold about one litre of food and drink. Any more than that and things start to get uncomfortable.

Here’s a few tips to help curb the enthusiasm this Christmas.

  1. Have a glass of water before meals. It will it help kick start your digestive system.
  2. Stick to a healthy, filling breakfast. Lot’s of fibre will make it easier for you to avoid the boxes of chocolates scattered around the office!
  3. Portion control is key. Eat large portions of the healthy stuff, and then have smaller portions of what you want to indulge in.
  4. We know it’s hard in this freezing weather, but keep active. Short walks, go to the gym. Keep yourself motivated.
  5. Don’t feel guilty about eating nice things.