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Getting Well and Staying Well Over the Holidays
Here we go into the holiday season with all the activities, get-togethers, and parties that go along with that. Of course, however, along with the joyful aspects come increased levels of stress, indulging in food and drink, and (often) more excuses to not exercise and disruptions to our routines.
So lets look at some strategies that can support people in getting and staying well over the holiday season.
First lets look at those of us who are not as well as we would like to be. Especially at this time of year and with the recent skyrocketing of stressful circumstances in our country, more and more people are experiencing persistent chronic fatigue often manifested as disrupted fragmented sleep, unexplained muscle and joint pain, and inability to carry out usual activities of life due to lack of energy.
For many of these folks, persistent stress has produced adrenal and thyroid gland dysfunction, nutritional disorders, and has produced an environment at risk for chronic infections.
If you fit this description, chances are you spend their days barely getting by, doing everything you can to make it to work, eat and sleep while undone tasks pile up around you and you feel like you are missing out on your life. Often people in this condition go from doctor to doctor looking for an answer and are told that all the lab tests are normal, and maybe you just need to sleep and exercise, and, by the way, are you depressed?
There is an effective way to treat people in this condition. Effective therapy is available and includes aggressively hunting down and treating all, even subtle, hormone deficiencies, nutritional issues, and reversing the sleep disorder. This approach also includes looking for and treating hidden chronic infections and is very often effective in returning people back to health and energy.
Now for those of you who are well, how do you maintain and even increase wellbeing over the holidays? A few simple guidelines should help.
If you exercise, make sure you continue to do so over the holidays. Exercising increases our metabolic rate for many hours after the activity and can help you burn calories going into a heavy holiday mealand may even help you resist over-indulging. I f you dont exercise or have been planning to start, this may be a great time to begin an exercise routine.
During the winter months in the northern latitudes it is common for people to have low Vitamin D levels. Vitamin D is becoming more and more appreciated for strengthening the immune system
Supplementing with 2000 units of Vitamin D3 each day can help support the immune system as can one to two grams of Vitamin C daily.
Limiting sugar and alcohol intake can also help you stay well, avoid illness, and avoid piling on the pounds during the holiday.
The key to a healthy holiday season is to surround yourself with loved ones, enjoy yourself, and continue to do those things that keep you well.
