7 Easy Ways to Combat Inflammation this Holiday Season
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! The holiday season is known to be filled with love, joy, family, and friends. It’s also a season filled with stress, lack of movement, and over-consumption of sugar and alcohol which means systemic inflammation can be at an all-time high. Throw in a pandemic and you might find yourself teetering on the edge of a meltdown. To say it’s a lot is an understatement.
So, how can we support our bodies during these crazier times? Glad you asked :) In this article, we’re going to discuss 7 ways to combat inflammation this holiday season so you can keep your immunity up, as well as your spirits!
Ho ho hope.
Pretty sure that’s what Santa meant to say.
1. Stay hydrated
Water is the most important nutrient in your body! It flushes toxins, enables cellular hydration, and transports nutrients, which all play a huge factor in managing and combating systemic inflammation.
As a general rule of thumb, aim to drink half your body weight in fluid ounces of hydrating fluids each day. For example, if you’re a 140 lb person, your daily goal is 70oz of hydrating beverages. These hydrating beverages include high-quality filtered water, coconut water, bone broth, and non-caffeinated herbal tea. Keep in mind, for every 8oz of dehydrating beverage you consume (coffee, tea, juice, alcohol, soda) you’ll want to add another 12oz of hydrating beverage to your daily baseline.
2. Move your body
Moving your body is crucial for a variety of reasons. Regular physical activity has health benefits that include stress reduction, weight control, strengthening of the heart, bones, and muscles, and reducing the risk of certain diseases — all of which are vastly important for combating inflammation. Additionally, exercise is critical for the movement of lymphatic fluid that is responsible for filtering out bacteria, viruses, and toxins, which, if left stagnant, causes high levels of inflammation.
To reduce inflammation in my face, I love to gua sha. The gua sha technique moves moves out stagnant lymph fluid, promotes, blood flow, detoxifies and depuffs, brightens skin, sculpts facial muscles, and smoothes fine lines and wrinkles
The key with gua sha is to be consistent. Over time you'll start to see more youthful, healthier-looking skin! I don't just use it on my face, either. I also use it on my neck, back, and other areas where I carry stress and tension. It's glorious, especially during the holiday season. I love when things are multi-functional, don't you? I highly recommend adding this tool to your clean skincare routine!
3. Slow down and breathe
While we cannot go three minutes without oxygen, too seldom do we sit and focus on breathing deeply. Our respiratory system is responsible for filtering out fumes, allergens, mold, and airborne toxins, all of which are highly inflammatory to our system. Focus on breathing in deeply to oxygenate your cells and breathe out completely to remove carbon dioxide and other accumulated toxins in the lungs. In addition to the oxygenation of our system, this deep breathing slows down our nervous system and allows the body to enter a parasympathetic state so we can “rest and digest”.
Breathing is so simple yet we neglect to properly breathe throughout the day. Try these breathing techniques to calm your body, reduce stress levels, and re-ground yourself.
4. Chew your food
While this may seem like an odd suggestion, it’s a small but powerful habit to combat inflammation. When we eat too quickly, we swallow air and large chunks of food, which can cause digestive dysfunction and therefore systemic inflammation. Hello bloating/ cramps/ gas. Aim to chew your food 20-30x per bite or until the food is a liquid-like consistency. This tiny habit will vastly improve digestion and combat inflammation.
5. Sleep
Sleep is a time where we restore and repair! Ensuring you get 7-9 hours of deep restorative sleep per night is especially key during times of excess stress and overindulgence of sugar and alcohol (i.e. the holidays!).
While we sleep, the body works on things like repairing tissue, microbiome (gut) management, brain function, immune function, and detoxification.
Sleep is so important so, please, do yourself a favor don’t skimp on it.
6. Avoid too many sweets
A high sugar diet can have harmful effects on your health and can result in chronic inflammation, where the body’s immune system activates, resulting in damage to healthy cells.
To reduce inflammation and stress levels, aim for an overall healthy diet filled with nutrient-dense whole foods. During the holidays, do the best you can to avoid overindulging in sweet treats filled with refined sugars. If possible, enjoy a dessert made with naturally sweet ingredients like maple syrup, honey, dates, and coconut sugar.
7. Cook with high-quality oils
Hydrogenated oils like vegetable, canola, and soy, are highly inflammatory and should be avoided at all costs. These industrial seed oils come from genetically modified plants that are toxic to our systems, full of additives, and have been linked with a variety of health problems.
For high heat cooking choose animal fats or ghee from pasture-raised sources and for medium heat cooking choose extra virgin olive oil or butter. These fats and oils are critical for our health as they boost the immune system and reduce systemic inflammation. They also make you feel fuller longer, curb cravings, and provide sustainable energy.
Let’s talk snacks for a minute.
The holidays ring in wonderful snack options like charcuterie boards, roasted spiced nuts, crunchy popcorn, eggnog (a classic), and pumpkin/ peppermint everything. As much as we’d all like to make our own snacks (not you? That’s cool), it’s easier sometimes to buy them for sanity’s sake. We can’t all be Julia Child.
Unfortunately, most snack foods are full of preservatives, artificial colors and flavors, and harsh additives. Companies that I won’t mention here are getting sneakier with “hiding” these harmful ingredients or have found ways of misconstruing information altogether. I’m not having any part of that.
So, what should you look out for? I’ve got that covered! I’ve taken out the guesswork for you by curating a freebie called “The Food Label Cheat Sheet”. It’s a handy sheet that breaks down what to look for in packaged foods and what to avoid. You can review it before going to the store or print it off and take it with you!
Ahhhhh yes, the holiday season is one to cherish, even more so when you’re feeling rested and recharged. By following these seven ways to combat inflammation, you’re on your way to ensuring your days will be merry and bright during this holiday season and well after!
““First, we’ll make snow angels for two hours, then we’ll go ice skating, then we’ll eat a whole roll of Tollhouse cookie dough as fast as we can, and then we’ll snuggle.” ”
Sources:
“Does Sugar Cause Inflammation? What the Research Says.” Medical News Today, MediLexicon International, www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/326386.
Exercise ... It Does a Body Good: 20 Minutes Can Act as Anti-Inflammatory.” UC Health - UC San Diego, health.ucsd.edu/news/releases/Pages/2017-01-12-exercise-can-act-as-anti-inflammatory.aspx.