Dec 7, 2017
Posted by: Monique Parker
Christmas is approaching fast and so are the days that a lot of people feel drained and stressed.
Although it is a lovely time of the year, many people feel it is also a particular stressful time. Think of overcrowded shopping centres, office parties, late nights, planning Christmas dinner, family issues, travel and of course, indulging in a mince pie or alcoholic drink too many.
When you’re stressed, your body starts releasing stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol.
These hormones tell the body to switch off all processes that are not needed to deal with the stress.
Cortisol normally fluctuates throughout the day, but if you’re stressed all the time, your cortisol stays high, even when it should drop. Like in the evening, when it should drop, so you can relax and go to sleep.
High cortisol affects your blood sugar levels, promotes fat deposits in the liver and around your waist. It can also cause sleep disruption, fatigue, and affect your immune system etc.
Enough reason to keep your cortisol in check I would say.
So, what can we do to get through the festive season, being able to enjoy the time of the year, feeling festive and not run down and stressed?
Food that are high in sugar and low in fibre make your blood sugar level shoot up and then crash. Every time your blood sugar level crashes, your cortisol will go up. Not an ideal scenario, especially not if you’re stressed already.
Remedies to help digestion:
Peppermint tea
You can use fresh mint leaves or shop-bought tea. Avoid peppermint if you suffer from acid reflux as peppermint relaxes the valve between your oesophagus and your stomach, and stomach acid could flow back upwards.
Ginger tea
Let a couple of slices of fresh ginger steep for 5 minutes in very hot water.
Check with your GP if you’re on medication, as ginger can interact with certain drugs, i.e. blood thinners.
Mukwhas
There are many recipes for this Indian after-dinner snack that helps digestion and refreshes the mouth, but most contain anise seeds, fennel seeds and sesame seeds.
Bitters
Think of Underberg or Jägermeister, alcohol infused with various herbs that help digestion. If you don’t want the alcoholic drink, go for something like the Viridian Organic Digestive Elixir. It does contain alcohol, but you dilute it in water.