Happy Holidays!
Yeah, tell that to your stomach ...
Provided by webmd.com
It happens to the best of us. We make great promises to ourselves every
year at the holidays to focus more on family, less on food; until the food
is brought forth. Here are a few tips to make your holidays more
enjoyable ... your stomach will thank you.
• Make trade-offs. Accept that you'll indulge during the holidays –
everybody does. Just do it strategically. Think about what you most want
and plan for it. If what you really love about Thanksgiving
dinner is your mother's stuffing, go ahead and have a second helping,
but decide not to have second helpings of the potatoes, and the pie,
and everything else.
• Compensate. If you know that you'll be eating a lot of fatty food at
holiday parties this week, compensate by healthy eating at lunch. High-fiber vegetables and grains will help
keep your GI tract working normally.
• Eat consciously. Starting at Halloween and ending on New Year's, you're going to be surrounded by treats.
At least be aware of when you're eating them ... you don't want to dip your hand absent-mindedly into every
bowl of candy you come across.
• Eat slowly. It's good advice year-round, but it's especially important now. Eating slowly will help the stomach
empty better and suppress the appetite. You won't want to overeat as much if you eat slowly.
• Limit alcohol. On its own, alcohol can irritate the GI tract and trigger heartburn. It also lowers your defenses,
increasing the chances you'll make bad food choices.
• Move. After the pumpkin pie, don't stretch out on the couch. You're bound to get heartburn and acid reflux
if you do. Instead, go out for a short walk. In general, try to keep up your regular exercise plan during the
holidays – at least as well as you can amid the chaos.
OTC Medicines for Digestive Distress
They're what your great-grandfather took when
he had heartburn on Thanksgiving eighty years ago.
They might not be as powerful as some newer
OTC medicines, but antacids start working almost
immediately. Antacids come as liquids and tablets;
brand names include Gaviscon, Maalox, Mylanta,
Rolaids, and Tums.
H2 blockers. Originally prescription medicines, H2
blockers are now available over the counter. They're
good drugs for occasional heartburn, although they're
most effective when taken an hour before eating.
Examples include Axid, Pepcid, Tagamet, and Zantac.
Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). Three PPIs are available
over-the-counter: Prevacid, Prilosec, and Zegerid. They
won’t relieve heartburn right away - they may take up
to four days for full effect - so they’re not helpful after
you’ve already overindulged. PPIs are meant for people
who have heartburn at least twice a week.
Anti-diarrhea medicines. Treatments like Imodium,
Kaopectate, and Pepto-Bismol can help relieve diarrhea
after a night of overdoing it. While effective, these
medicines can sometimes result in a new problem:
constipation.