Christmas and Holiday Overindulging can lead to many digestive disturbances, leaving you feeling lethargic and uncomfortable. Eating too much food, including the type of foods you’d normally only eat in moderation, or drinking too much alcohol, can overload and overwhelm your digestive capacity as:

• you may not have enough digestive power in the form of digestive enzymes to breakdown your food
• too many acidic foods and drinks may trigger indigestion or reflux
• too much alcohol will put a strain on your liver, and impact your ability to digest foods properly

Our 3 top tips to cope with Overindulging

If you think overindulging may be an issue for you, have a look at our top 3 tips using herbs and nutrients to keep you on the right track.

1. Digestive enzymes

Eating large amounts, particularly those ‘once a year’ celebratory foods, can place stress on your body’s ability to produce the right amount of digestive enzymes needed to breakdown your food. Digestive enzymes not only help to unlock important nutrients from your food, they also reduce your risk of feeling bloated, windy and uncomfortable.

Tip 1: Digestive enzymes reduce your risk of developing digestive disturbances and provide you with the energy you need from your food.

2. Indigestion & Reflux

Indigestion and reflux are associated with eating highly acidic foods, or the failure of the lower oesophageal sphincter (LOS) to close properly after the food has passed through the oesophagus, or a combination of both. This allows hydrochloric acid to flow back up from the stomach into the oesophagus, causing mild to severe burning pain in the chest and throat. Triggers for indigestion and reflux include spicy foods, or alcoholic, coffee and soft drinks which increase acidity, or chocolate, which relaxes LOS tone. How much you eat, and when you eat it can also make a big difference.

Tip 2: Amla - traditional Ayurvedic rejuvenating digestive tonic herb for the relief of heartburn, reflux, and digestive acidity, and Licorice - traditionally used for the relief of indigestion, bloating, feeling of fullness, heartburn, reflux and digestive discomfort in the upper abdomen.

3. Liver support

Even if you’re a regular partygoer, or you only drink a small amount of alcohol every now and then (but anticipate a busy festive season), you should include some liver support. This means taking supplements before and after social functions to help minimise any hangover effect, as your liver is heavily involved in detoxifying alcohol and plays an important role in digestive function.

Tip 3: St. Mary’s thistle, Dandelion, Schizandra, Bupleurum, Globe artichoke and the nutrient curcumin from Turmeric are traditional herbs used to support and protect your liver. Choline and inositol may help prevent fatty liver and reduce alcohol damage, whilst taurine supports detoxification.

Mr Vitamins recommends

Herbs of Gold supplements to help with Overindulging

1. 1. • Digest-Zymes
      • Liver Care
      • Reflux Relief

Find out more and shop online for these great Herbs of Gold products here