Dr Megan Rossi shares tips on how to keep your gut happy at Christmas

Virgin Radio

20 Dec 2022, 11:28

Gut health expert Dr Megan Rossi has shared her best advice as we indulge in more food and drink this festive season. 

With countless parties, dinners, and the overall stress of Christmas, it’s easy to overdo it on all fronts, and one place that might suffer the most is your gut. 

Sharing her best tips (via MailOnline), Dr Rossi has laid out some simple steps to ensure your tummy remains in tip-top shape, while still enjoying all that Christmas has to offer. 

Know your limits

You know how much food usually makes you full, and that won’t change just because it’s December. 

For Dr Rossi, one of the best things you can do to keep your gut happy is to keep to your limits, no matter how much is on your plate. 

She said: “People become a bit more gung-ho at this time of year and eat things they know have triggered gut problems for them in the past — or they eat more of them than normal, exceeding what their system can tolerate (and yes, Brussels sprouts are often on that list).”

If you fancy something smaller to eat and keep your tummy full, Dr Rossi suggests making a “beeline for canapes that are at least 50% plants” to lower the fat load. 

Avoid too many mince pies

While the season should be guilt-free, dining out on too many mince pies can had an adverse effect on your body. 

The odd one (or two) are fine, but because of the dried fruit inside, which are high in fructose, too many can lead to the pathways in your gut “that absorb this type of sugar to become overwhelmed.”

Don’t skip meals

You might think skipping out on breakfast to make way for that famous Christmas dinner is the way to go, but actually, it can lead to feeling more uncomfortable after chowing down on your roast potatoes. 

Dr Rossi explained: “Saving yourself for a big meal — and skipping breakfast or not eating for the rest of the day (except for maybe a tiny snack) — is the worst thing you can do. Studies have shown that this leads to overeating when people do sit down for a meal, partly because they are so hungry, but also because they feel they can let themselves go.”

To avoid overeating and the risk of heartburn too, the expert suggests spreading out all your eating over the day, potentially having that smoked salmon starter as breakfast, a turkey roast for lunch and the Christmas pudding for your evening meal. 

Walk if off and tackle the stress

If you do feel like you’ve overdone it, the best thing you can do to combat that uncomfortable bloating is to go for a walk. 

A staple for many families, the Christmas day walk does a lot more than freshen you up, but it gets all the muscles in your body to use more glucose, and in turn, lower your bloody sugar levels. Walking also allows the pressure in your stomach to go down too. 

It’s also a good way to relieve any stress you might be feeling on the big day, whether that’s to do with how many pigs in blankets you’ve consumed, or about presents, friends and family, or overall end-of-year worries. 

Dr Rossi shared: “Stress gets picked up by the enteric nervous system (a network of nerves that sends signals into your gut) — the nerves become over-excited and, in turn, gut movement becomes more erratic.”

“So as the big day approaches you might want to try a few minutes of mindfulness each day. This won’t just calm you down, it can also help improve your sleep.”