Articles > Balanced Living > Coping with Over-indulgence

A few simple tips that will help you reduce the level of damage you do to your body when you overindulge at holiday time. We all do it, and the emotional and social rewards of partying are essential to us. However, it's a good idea to remember that our poor old bodies need some TLC (tender loving care) during the holiday season and anytime we are celebrating life by enjoying an excess of food and drink.

Replenish your potassium

When our bodies are asked to stay up later than usual, even if we are lucky enough to be able to sleep in the next morning, we expose ourselves to the same physical strain as when we are jet lagged. This same thing is also true for people who work shifts or who regularly have to get up with small children. In simple physical terms, jet lag or messed up sleep patterns tends to rob our body of potassium. One of the simplest ways of replenishing potassium in your body is to eat a banana. These wonderful fruits are excellent for the repair and recovery of the digestive tract and intestines as well and have been used as such for many hundreds of years - Bananas are also great for hangovers because of their complex carbohydrates that renew your energy. Cantaloupe melon and apricots also have high levels of potassium, so should be perfect for the same purpose.

Remember your bran

You know that I consider good nutrition to be essential. Whilst most of us eat far more than we should, we can also eat poorly - too much refined sugar and alcohol, too little roughage, and the balance goes out of the window. I would recommend that everyone take a multivitamin and multi-mineral during the holiday season, and remember to have your bran flakes in the morning to keep all that stuff you’re eating moving through your systems!

Bread and butter

My next tip is not some clever new age trick - it’s more like an old wives tale, but it works. My mom once recommended to me that before going out to a big dinner or party, I should have something simply to line my stomach - she always had a piece of bread with lots of butter because she said that the grease seemed to line her stomach well.

Water

The other tip we all know and should follow is to drink lots of water, herb tea and juice when we can, and to alternate our alcoholic drinks with water or juice, which will give our bodies much needed liquid throughout the day and night.

Restore your system

Keeping going through the whole season - repair your liver and calm your digestion system. One of the best and simplest ways to revitalise your liver when it’s feeling sluggish (or you’ve been over indulging) is to drink tomato or V8 juice. Other things that restore your liver after alcohol abuse are carrots, dandelion root, gingko biloba, tumeric and beetroot.

Calm your stomach

Cantaloupe is good for stomach upsets, and prunes are excellent for excess stomach acid and for keeping your system working efficiently, fennel is also great for stomachs and one of the few herbs gentle enough to use for small children. Peaches and pears are recommended for indigestion - they are also great for infections and fevers, and they will be tolerated by an abused stomach when nothing else will stay down.

I hope you all enjoy the seasonal activities - remember to drink loads of water and fruit juices, exercise a little bit every day and eat lightly the morning after. If all else fails, light-touch massage has proven to be great for detoxification and headaches - so is reiki. So give me a ring!