5 Ways to Get Over Your Halloween Sugar Binge
The week after Halloween can leave you with some
The sugar in your system can make you moody, tired, create painful inflammation, and give you cravings for more unhealthy food. To jump-start your system and get you feeling back to normal, we have five simple things you can do today which just require paying more attention to what you eat and drink.
Sometimes we get so caught up in the fun that we forget to pay attention to our health and nutrition. This yo-yo effect of energy and emotions is something many people experience throughout the holiday season and if you are feeling a bit down-in-the-dumps now, it’s a good time to start planning to make healthy food decisions as we approach the other holiday gatherings.
For now, try these five simple food ideas to start feeling better.
Sweat It Out
Start with some good old-fashioned exercise like an invigorating power-walk or a trusty detoxifying at home yoga flow. Getting your circulation flowing will help you cleanse and sweat out the toxins. You may need a little extra motivation if you’re tired so check out our fun and motivating playlist to give you that extra boost.
Drink 1.5 - 2 Liters of Water
When we are suffering from a spike in our blood sugar, we usually become dehydrated as well because sugar is a diuretic and makes you urinate. This can quickly lead to headaches, nausea, and flu-like symptoms.
We list this as the first tip because it’s so critical to your wellbeing and for your filter organs to flush your body of toxins. Because sugary foods are acidic, go for alkaline water to help balance the pH in your body which will help reduce painful inflammation and keep your immune system stronger so you’re less prone to catching a virus.
Get hydrated: Your Mind & Body on Hydration
Eat High-Fiber Foods to Speed Up Digestion
Salads, green smoothies, fruit, and healthy unprocessed grains (such as quinoa, brown rice, oats) can help boost your digestion.
Fiber helps food pass through your system and has essential vitamins you need to boost your energy levels and get rid of brain fog. Berries, apples, pears, beans, nuts, chia seeds, brown rice, and vegetables all have high amounts of fiber that will revive you.
Eat Stomach Settling Foods
Certain bitter foods aid in digestion and can settle an upset stomach. Cruciferous vegetables like brussel sprouts, cabbage, arugula, radishes, kale, and broccoli can help as well as raw cacao and coffee, which increase bile production to get your digestion flowing.
Some herbs that are natural digestives include garlic, dill, dandelion, rosemary, peppermint, cinnamon, and fennel. You may have them in your spice closet already or you could also get them as a tea.
Use Ginger & Turmeric for Inflammation
Ginger and turmeric have properties that will help reduce muscle and joint inflammation that can be caused by swollen intestines pushing on your back or tissues that are suffering. These ingredients were used in ancient remedies for this same issue, like in chai tea or golden milk. You can usually get them at a juice bar or just add them to your cooking.
There are also drinks in the cooler section at most health food stores that already have these roots or you can get them in tea or supplement form individually.
Balance Your Blood Sugar with Protein & Healthy Fat
Have three well-balanced meals with vegetables, protein, and healthy fat to balance the spike in your blood sugar. Go for lean meat like fish or egg whites with omega 3s. Healthy fats include olive oil, coconut oil, nuts, avocado, or nut butter. Many people think they need protein for energy but most of it comes from healthy fat sources.
Planning Ahead…
Sometimes it’s easy to focus on the foods you shouldn’t eat and less easy to know what food you should eat. Some ways to get healthy food ideas are going to healthy restaurants or looking at their online menus plus the web is full of healthy recipes with mouth-watering photos of the finished product which are free and easy to find. Having a game plan for your health and wellness will help you feel good while you have fun this season.
Make a list of the daily activities and food choices you want to make to help yourself have a clearly defined goal.
This is not a good time to overwhelm your body by giving into all food cravings that will make you feel worse. Your Halloween costume may have been spooky but what is really scary is not feeling good and possibly getting sick because of a compromised immune system. Take the lead and get your body back on track so you can keep smiling and plan for a great holiday season.
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