Dr. O’s Guide to Looking & Feeling Great for the Holidays!

Yes, folks it’s that time of the year again...

The time for holiday cheer, parties, family reunions, and unfortunately also a time of stress, weight gain, and accelerated aging to the skin and body. It is also a time when I am repeatedly asked by many of my patients for insight as to how to successfully navigate through the season without looking and feeling exhausted - as well as how to avoid that extra weight gain!

To the surprise of many there are small changes you can make to your everyday routine which will make a big difference in how you look and feel. There are also certain things that you must try your best to avoid, or at best minimize exposure to, if you are to keep looking and feeling your best.

Sounds easy, right? Well, unfortunately the odds are stacked against you. In this article, I'll discuss the Pitfalls of the holiday diet and proper nutrition. In the next issue of our newsletter, I'll discuss Holiday skin care survival and Revival!

Diet and Nutrition:

The holidays are a time when we overindulge and hence create a bulge! This results from both a quantitative and qualitative process, meaning we are simply eating too much of the wrong things. Carbohydrate and fat consumption increases by 20 – 30%, and the total amount of calories consumed can double to even triple in some circumstances.

Your body is simply not able to process this extra load, and in conjunction with decreased exercise (we are usually too busy shopping for those holiday gifts) leads to increased insulin tolerance, serum lipid deposition as well as glycation to our cells. All of this leads to decreased energy, increased fat deposition, increased skin wrinkling as well as increased oxidative damage to every cell in our body!

What’s a person to do?

Feed your body continued small frequent meals, 4 per day, of high protein, low fat food sources. This will help make better choices at that holiday buffet, as you will never be “starving”. When you do hit the buffet, avoid those processed meats and cheeses, stick to lean NON processed meats and fish (How bout that turkey or sushi instead of the others?) while limiting your carbohydrate to no more than 20% of your total caloric intake. Also avoid carbonated sodas at all cost this is a big "no no" - especially the “diet” drinks. Stick with spring water or Pellegrino! 

What about cocktails you ask? No one says you can’t partake of a little holiday cheer, but remember wine is best, especially the European Reds (French/Italian/Spanish) as they have the highest levels of Reservatrol (the best anti-aging anti-oxidant known today!) per serving. As for other options, beer has too many calories, and remember the darker the liquor the worse the hangover. Why you ask? Darker liquors have higher levels of cogeners which lead to a hangover.

I always get asked next any true proven way to prevent the dreaded morning after symptoms? Actually yes! Before bedtime (after a night of a few too many), chomp down 2 extra strength Tylenol with 2 extra strength Tums washing it down with a quart of Pedialyte and most symptoms will be thwarted!

Nutrition-wise, it's a must to include extra B-Complex and antioxidants this time of year.
Your supplement should contain all the core antioxidants, plus alpha lipoic acid, DHEA, Co Q 10, Omega3/6 fish oils as well as posses key herbs shown to help maintain cellular repair mechanisms at their highest levels, like Uncaria Tomentosa. Having trouble sleeping? Some bedtime Melatonin always helps!