12 Tips For a Healthy Christmas and New Year’s Eve Celebration

We are looking forward to Christmas and New Year’s Eve holidays!

They are associated with warmth, comfort, close relationships, spirituality, good humor, delicious food and fun.However, we all know how difficult it is to control one’s appetite at the sight of the festive tables laden with all sorts of goodies. The variety of mouth-watering dishes and tempting pastries is a real challenge even for the most devoted advocates of healthy eating.

Various studies show that stress levels and emotions during the holiday season rise dramatically, which results mostly in overeating unhealthy foods. A lot of observational studies have shown that people, who overeat during the holiday season, have changed their lifestyles and eating habits to a constant cycle. Once you have embraced the vicious circle, you miss your enthusiasm, start feeling powerless and lose your will to change for the better or you think you don't have the time to manage that.

Unfortunately, abundant and tasty eating leads to all sorts of consequences, such as bloating and stomach pain, rise in the blood sugar levels and high blood pressure, overweight and low self-esteem. Although weight gain during the holidays may not be significant, it tends to stay and may even increase over time.

That's why Vita Rama Health Center invites you to spend a truly healthy Christmas and New Year’s Eve, in good health and vitality; close relationships and love; spirituality and moments of joy!

12 Tips For a Healthy Christmas And New Year’s Eve Celebration

1. Choose plant foods - fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, seeds and nuts, to be always in shape, in good mood and good health.

2. Prefer always fresh and ripe fruits and vegetables. They are high in vitamins, minerals and easily digestible. Eat them whole or in a saute form.

3. Always start the day with freshly squeezed juices from fresh fruits and vegetables. They are best digested in the morning on an empty stomach. Do not consume more than 200 ml to avoid increasing the glycemic index because of the lack of cellulose. Citrus fruit juices are an exception and you can consume as much as 500 ml juice.

4. Consume whole grains (rich in fibers). Those include brown rice, green buckwheat, millet, polenta, quinoa, einkorn wheat, oats, beans, lentils, chickpeas, mung dal, peas, corn. Unfortunately, Bulgarians suffer from fiber deficiency. They do not consume more than 5 to 15 g fiber per day, while the recommended daily dose is 30 g fiber min. Fibers help us better eliminate food waste, have good cholesterol and is also good for the proper body detoxification. For this purpose, always choose unrefined foods.

5. Prefer whole-grain bread made from whole grain flours (rye, spelt, barley), no added fat, seeds or nuts. For those with gluten intolerance we recommend whole grain gluten-free tortillas from corn, rice or millet flour.

6. Do not consume concentrated fats, such as cooking oil, margarine, vegetable oils, olive oil and others - neither cold pressed, nor refined. Consume soaked seeds and nuts (up to 50 g. per day) or avocado (up to one big fruit per day) or olives (up to 20 per day) to obtain the necessary fats. If you long for some sort of fats, consume preferably unrefined raw butter. Do not consume more than one teaspoonful a day, adding it finally to the warm meal. Fats tend to stick to the cell walls and prevent the absorption of glucose and other important substances.

7. Savor well your food with various spices such as fenugreek, celery, mint, oregano, basil, paprika, turmeric, dill, parsley and a few chili spices, such as white pepper, red pepper, ginger. Be careful with the salt, it tends to cause edema (swelling). You can use it in small quantities for flavoring and for better digestion of proteins. Do not consume more than 3-4 g per day.

8. Eat only when you are truly hungry. It is only then that all body systems work to digest and absorb nutrients, food will be more enjoyable, high in nutrients and energy.

9. Do not overeat! The hunger regulating center, called appetite thermostat is found to be located in the hypothalamus. It takes the center as much as 20 minutes to detect if there is sufficient glucose spinal insulin and then it detects if you need more food.

10. Eat in a pleasant atmosphere of harmony, good mood, close friends and family, beautifully arranged table and dishes.

11. Exercise as much as possible, for your physical health is 50% based on the blood and lymph circulation. We recommend that you should take regular short walks and do stretching (or yoga asanas), as well as more intense workouts and aerobics. Spend the weekends outdoors in the nature, mountain hiking in particular is very good for your health.

12. Detox and cleanse your body after the holiday season.

January is very appropriate to follow healthy detox and weight loss programs so that you can feel full of energy and vitality once again. Follow those programs wisely and in accordance to your specific health status. There are various types of body cleanse: fruit and vegetable juice detox; fruits detox; juices, fruits and raw vegetables detox; water only. It is recommended that the cleansing procedures be prepared and supervised by experienced dietitians - healthy nutrition specialists and naturopathic physicians.

Of course, it is also good to detox and cleanse prior to the holidays, during the Christmas fasting period. Following them you can cleanse your body on the inside and on the outside; become a better person, be modest, humble, generous, healthy, pure and ennoble spiritually.

Vita Rama Health Center team wishes you wholeheartedly happy and healthy Christmas and New Year’s Eve holidays!