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It is everyone’s favourite time of year: holiday season. This of course heralds a whole lot of eating, drinking and making merry – which can lead to a range of health issues just when you need it least.
Here’s your festive season guide to staying healthy while enjoying the good life.
Part 1: Pre-season prep
Before you travel
Ensure you get all the necessary vaccinations you may need at least six weeks before you leave. It is also a good idea to invest in travel insurance, even for a domestic trip. One unforeseen medical emergency later, and you will be grateful you did.
Boost your immune system
The festive season can take its toll. Give your immune system a head start and a necessary boost before the madness begins.
1. Colourful fruits and vegetables such as berries, citrus fruits, kale, spinach, sweet potatoes and carrots, are great for giving your immune system a kick. Mushrooms, garlic and probiotic-rich foods are especially good for boosting immunity.
2. Staying hydrated may stave off infections. Your mucous membranes and the immune cells in their secretions defend against cold viruses. They can't work as well if you're dehydrated. It is therefore essential to drink plenty of fluids – alcohol does not count!
3. Laughter really is the best medicine. It decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, improving your resistance to disease. The more you laugh, the more you encourage your immune system.
Safe in the sun
Sunblock, sunblock, and sunblock: let this always be your first line of defence, the first thing in your beach bag and be sure to reapply at least every two hours. Also important for that beach bag: a sunburn remedy. Keep an anti-inflammatory or antihistamine on hand for emergencies.
Keep the bloat at bay
One of the downsides to all the holiday eating is unfortunately, a little bloat. Sneak these bloat-fighting foods into your meals:
• Sip some peppermint tea after a meal. Peppermint is known to soothe the digestive tract.
• Help yourself to some fruit – specifically high-potassium fruit like bananas and mangoes. These are rich in asparagine which is a diuretic that flushes excess liquid out of the system.
• Fresh parsley in a meal also works wonders as a diuretic.
• Kiwi fruit, says researchers in New Zealand, is a boon for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). They found that people with IBS who ate two kiwis a day for four weeks had less constipation and a general lessening of IBS symptoms than those who did not.
References
The Pre-Travel Consultation (Motion Sickness), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2015 (Online) Available at: http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2016/the-pre-travel-consultation Accessed: 18 November 2015
Eat, Drink, Be Merry and Exercise, Health24. 2014
Kiwifruit helps beat bloat. 2013 (Online) Available at: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11126183 Accessed: 19 November 2015
