Too much food and alcohol – too little exercise: How to take countermeasures at Christmas, explains Angelika Reitböck, consultant for preventive and health management in the Upper Austrian Medical Association: “As a first measure, you could plan a day of relief. On that day you either only eat vegetables , only rice, only fruit or you only drink juices. ” In addition, you should drink two to four liters of liquid – preferably still water or unsweetened herbal tea. “This is ideally complemented by light exercise in the fresh air. After just one day you will feel lighter and more carefree again,” says the general practitioner.
Reitböck also recommends combining what is not so healthy with what is healthy. For meat, you choose smaller portions than you would originally envision. Even with pasta products, sauces or a potato salad, you’re less likely to load yourself onto your plate than usual. “Pay special attention to the side dishes at your holiday meal. Vegetables, salads or boiled potatoes can be served more heartily. Bitter substances, such as those in endive salad occur, also stimulate digestion, “says the doctor. Beverages can also have many calories: especially beer, long drinks, fruit juices or cola. As a balance, you can always drink enough water in between.
If we have over-acidified our organism with meat, alcohol or sweets, alkaline counterparts such as boiled potatoes, vegetables (especially in raw form), light salads (green salad, cucumber salad) and various juices (beetroot juice, celery juice, apple juice) can occur ) restore balance.
Vitamin B from food
“You can also counteract a possible deficiency in B vitamins, caused by too much alcohol and sweets, through the targeted intake of foods containing vitamin B,” says Reitböck. These are, for example, whole grain bread, brown rice, olive oil and wheat germ oil (vitamin B1), almonds, mushrooms and cheese (B2), walnuts, avocados, bananas, soy dishes, wheat germ (B6) as well as herring, sardines, eggs, milk and sauerkraut (B12) .
Foot baths can relieve the liver and kidneys: add a few drops of juniper, rosemary and fennel oil with a spoonful of vegetable oil to a bowl of lukewarm water and soak your feet in it for ten minutes.
With excessive alcohol consumption, the hangover can be combated with the following recipe:
- Drink plenty of water to make up for fluid loss.
- Rolled pork, pickles and tomato juice with salt bring trace elements – as does well-salted chicken broth.
- Use fresh fruit and vegetables instead of sweets.
- Exercise in the fresh air according to the motto “take the cat for a walk”.
Source: Nachrichten
