Conscious Choice: Holiday Hangovers

December 2000 | Health Conscious

Holiday Hangovers

by Rebecca Ephraim, RD, CCN

We are all familiar with hangovers from imbibing liquor; I believe there is also another kind that I call a food hangover. We understand what a liquor hangover is: the toxic by-product of wine, beer, or the hard stuff, which poisons our bodies making us ill with headache, body aches, and nausea. Food hangovers are generally not as intense but if you’ve been out for a night of festive food swimming in butter and cream, fried to a crisp, and steeped in sugar, you are no doubt acquainted with food hangovers. Trying to sleep is miserable as your stomach gurgles and churns and the following day brings with it fatigue, a feeling of bloat and perhaps diarrhea and headache. Turn this into a routine of eating and drinking jags and, egad, I’ve just described the excesses of "The Holidays."

Abundant amounts of rich food and drink are the hallmark of December through New Year’s. Parties, social gatherings, and bake sales are only the half of it. It seems as though everybody, businesses and friends alike, has a cornucopia of goodies spilling across tables and counters that we unthinkingly pick, pluck, and pop in our mouths with careless abandon.

This is junk food dressed for the holidays. And for some reason, when the backdrop is bright tinsel, holiday music, and "special occasions," we lose sight of just how upsetting junk food can be to our bodies. Self-discipline can be radically compromised. Yes, I speak from many seasons’ experience yet continue to want my cake (hold the fruit cake!) and eat it too. But with a little know-how and discipline, I’ve found manageable ways to harness the holiday season for my pleasure sans hangovers and their miserable symptoms.

We can all agree that most holiday goodies and hors d’oeuvres are laden with either heavy hits of fat or sugar that can cause havoc with our stomachs. We get in trouble when we show up hungry and thirsty to festive gatherings and immediately visit the bar. Lubricated with a cocktail or two, we’re usually ready to ingest any food within our grazing path. Better to order sparkling water first, scope out the food and decide what the best choices are. Those little deep fried hot dogs rolled in bacon? Noooooo. How about the mini butter crackers smeared with a three-cheese whipped spread? I’d skip that, too. Keep it simple. And remember the less processed the food, the fewer antagonizing ingredients it will contain. Fresh shrimp? Certainly. Smoked salmon on cocktail rye bread? Not bad. A plate of raw veggies? Yes! But go easy on the oily dipping sauce (I’d serve hummus or guacamole with the veggies if it were my party). Nuts are a healthy choice, especially almonds and walnuts.

Many people have allergies or sensitivities to specific foods from which they need to steer clear. In some ways, these folks have a leg up in that they have been forced to "listen" to their bodies and respond accordingly...something I feel we all need to learn.

Routinely, everyone at a party is served the same main course which makes it nearly impossible to control what ends up on our plates. So, in effect, we’re served a lot of food over which we have little control. But what little control we have can be leveraged to the best possible advantage. For instance, if I know I’ll be eating a catered meal, I call ahead to order a "special meal." This is easy today as catering kitchens anticipate that some guests will have special requests. It just takes a little forethought. Even when there’s no substitution and the main entrée sounds as if it will come floating in some unfamiliar heartburn-inducing cream sauce, I ask that the sauce be served on the side. That way, I can decide whether I want to eat it instead of lumping the fact that sauce has been slathered on every bite. Likewise, when I’ve been invited to a friend’s home for dinner, I’ll call the host and gently mention that I don’t eat red meat and that I’d love to bring a vegetarian dish to share. Generally, I’m turned down but the host makes sure I’m provided for.

As for desserts, how can we not? Actually, the best time to eat dessert is after a meal. This is when we have a full complement of protein and fat in our digestive tract from the foods we’ve just eaten. So adding a blast of sugar then won’t be bad; it’ll be churned in with the other foods that will act to significantly slow down the absorption rate of the sugar.

Yet choosing desserts is tricky, as one can only take an educated guess at the ingredients. I try to avoid pastries as lots of shortening and white flour go into the crusts; other desserts with flour can be irritating to people who have a wheat or gluten sensitivity but may not know it (part of listening to our bodies). Cheesecake with its heavy cream, sour cream, cream cheese, etc., can do a number on many sensitive stomachs. So what direction to head? Although some people have trouble with chocolate, I personally steer toward desserts such as flourless chocolate cake, which has no flour, some butter and a lot of eggs or, pecan pie which usually has a little butter and some eggs (I don’t eat the crust). Obviously what would be even simpler is a fruit sorbet and, best of all, a fruit plate. But c’mon, it’s the holidays!

If all else fails and some disagreeable food has made its way past your lips to torment your stomach, you might want to consider some digestive support. Indigestion is commonly treated with antacids and acid blockers that make the stomach less acidic. Although making the stomach less acidic reduces symptoms of indigestion, it works against the body’s natural processes. According to naturopaths Michael Murray and Joseph Pizzorno in their well-referenced Textbook of Natural Medicine, the use of these agents impairs protein digestion and mineral absorption. In addition, the change in pH can "adversely effect gut microbial flora including the promotion of an overgrowth of Helicobacter pylori [the bacterial culprit behind most ulcers]." Finally, they say, most nutrition-oriented physicians believe that a lack of acid, not excess, is the true cause of indigestion.

In light of this, products containing enzymes that digest fat, protein, and carbohydrate are available, mostly in the supplement sections of health food stores. Products such as AbsorbAid contain lipase, amylase, protease, and lactase...the same enzymes present in our digestive tract...but perhaps not in optimal amounts. These products are generally taken during a meal or upon feelings of indigestion. By all means, if stomach pains persist, see your (nutrition-oriented) physician.

And what about alcohol? Pharmacist Dave Mason, thirty-eight, sums it up for a lot if us. "I was thirty-five and could not enjoy a glass of wine or beer because I felt like crud the next day." As a compounding pharmacist, Mason adapted a fellow pharmacist’s simple formula for fending off hang-overs, capsulated it, and dubbed it "Hangover Helper": 200 mg L-cysteine (an amino acid) and 600 mg vitamin C...one before you start drinking, one with each drink and one when you’re done. Essentially, according to Mason, the L-cysteine keeps the toxic by-product of alcohol, acetaldehyde, from building up and the vitamin C keeps the cysteine in its reduced and soluble form. He says he’s prepared it for many of his clients with great results (I don’t know as I’ve not tried it). TwinLab carries the complex and Mason, who’s in Oklahoma, sells it (RXDave@aol.com).

Of course, in offering the above tips, I’m assuming you’re going into the holiday season in fairly good health. But if you count yourself among the unwell, now is the time to reassess what you’re eating and drinking and make a fresh go of it in the New Year!

Disclaimer: This column is for information only and no part of its contents should be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, recommendation or endorsement by Ms. Ephraim.

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