Feasting with no regrets

Enjoy the Christmas season in good health and without indigestion: just follow these tips to enhance your enjoyment.

Enjoy more mindfully

Even when the food looks irresistible: take your time to enjoy it. Enjoy every single bite with all your senses, savour its flavour and texture. Eating together is the perfect opportunity – it creates an atmosphere that can be helpful for mindful enjoyment. Mindful eating is not only good for the soul, but also has health benefits: It improves our feeling of hunger and satiation, for example, so we are satiated more quickly and do not overeat.

Keep an eye on portion sizes

Even if your appetite for all the Christmas delicacies is insatiable, less is more here, too. Smaller portions, eaten with mindfulness, can produce the same feeling of satiation as a heaping plateful. A good idea is to use smaller plates and bowls where there is no room for large amounts.

Cook with healthier ingredients

Replace the biscuits with a plate of crudités? There’s no need to take Christmas quite that far. Nevertheless, it is quite possible to make Mailänderli biscuits and other favourites more easily digestible without compromising on pleasure. For example, the amount of sugar can be reduced, or whole grain flour can used instead of wheat flour. It’s also possible to reduce fat: side dishes such as croquettes are much easier to digest when baked in the oven than when fried, and fish and lean meats such as chicken or turkey are more easily digested than fatty roasts.

Snack more healthfully

A bit of gingerbread here, a piece of fruitcake there: sweet snacks are not only true calorie bombs, but also difficult to digest due to their high sugar and fat content. Snacks like nuts, with their healthy fats, or mandarins and oranges that contain a lot of vitamin C, are much better for us. Chocolate is allowed, but the higher the cocoa content, the better. In addition to less sugar, dark chocolate contains plant-based substances that, when consumed in large quantities, can have a positive impact on heart health.

Stay hydrated

Drinking plenty of fluids is essential for good digestion. Water, drunk throughout the day before meals, provides the body with fluid and reduces feelings of hunger. In addition, sufficient water can help regulate bowel activity. It’s particularly important when eating lots of rich foods.

Plan to exercise

Exercise is essential to keep your metabolism in fine fettle. A daily walk in fresh winter air burns calories and is good for your whole body.

If we have eaten too much – or too much fatty or sugary food – we feel unwell. Our gastrointestinal tract is overwhelmed and reacts with bloating, nausea or heartburn. Prevention is the best medicine here: it is best not to push our digestive system to the limit by eating too much in the first place. However, if we have gone a bit overboard, various home remedies can help alleviate the discomfort.

To prevent heartburn, it is helpful to drink plenty of fluids – ideally unsweetened tea or water. The liquid washes rising gastric acid down the oesophagus, thus preventing discomfort.

If you have acute symptoms, almonds are a good idea. Chewed and swallowed, they can reduce the burning sensation in the throat.

Aniseed, fennel and caraway are often served as a tea for feelings of bloating and fullness. They have cramp-relieving properties and aid digestion.

Another remedy for gastrointestinal discomfort is ginger. It promotes the function of the intestines. Simply pour hot water over fresh ginger slices, steep for five to ten minutes and then drink the liquid.

Moist heat can also help with bloating: It has a relaxing and cramp-relieving effect. Place a folded towel that has been moistened with hot water on the stomach and cover it with warm dry towels.

Bei Völlegefühl, Sodbrennen, Übelkeit und Blähungen sind auch Bitterstoffe ein geeignetes Mittel. Sie unterstützen die Verdauung und können schwere Mahlzeiten bekömmlicher machen. Im gesamten Magen-Darm-Trakt fördern sie die vermehrte Ausschüttung von Verdauungssekret. Und zusätzlich verbessern sie die Beweglichkeit des Darms – Bitterstoffe sind wahre Multitalente.

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