Healthy holiday tips for integrative providers

Photo Cred: Marko Klaric/Pexels

By Kellie Blake, RDN, LD, IFNCP

Holiday stress can derail even the healthiest lifestyle. I recently had a conversation with a busy practitioner and mom who mentioned she often feels so busy that she forgets to nourish her body. She starts the day with coffee and doesn’t even think about food until her workday ends. As a dietitian, I can’t imagine how someone could forget to eat but I have found this to be a common theme for many high achievers, especially in integrative medicine.

After all, integrative providers are often seeing patients with complex problems who have failed most other therapies and the motivation to troubleshoot for missing links has many providers spending much of their free time working. Tack on the added time commitments of the holiday season and healthy habits can soon take a back seat leading to increased stress and illness.

Integrative providers are well-versed in the physical and psychological impact of unmanaged stress, but even they can begin to experience negative symptoms such as headaches, poor sleep, joint and muscle pain, anxiety, frequent illness, gastrointestinal distress, and mood changes. During this time of year, when the days seem to go by more quickly and there seems to be an endless supply of sweet treats floating around, it’s even more imperative that integrative providers make their own health a priority.

As a very busy practitioner myself, I have found a few things to be helpful for staying on track during the holidays.

Prioritize daily alone time.

With increased work and family demands during the holidays, it can make finding time alone difficult. But spending even just a few minutes each day to practice a meditation, read a book, or listen to your favorite music can be a wonderful way to reduce stress and allow for a recharge. One systematic review and meta-analysis in JAMA Internal Medicine found daily meditation can provide small to moderate reductions in several aspects of psychological stress. Starting the day with a five-minute meditation session can be a game-changer.

Stay on schedule with sleep.

During the holidays, many providers wish they had more hours in the day to accomplish tasks, so sleep habits can suffer. But since a lack of restful sleep literally impacts all areas of life, sleep needs to be non-negotiable. As reported in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, nearly one-third of American adults are sleeping less than seven hours each night. Of course, this increases the risk of poor health outcomes, but can also lead practitioners to make medical errors. I encourage practitioners to create a healthy sleep routine and avoid letting anything interfere with sleep.

Nourish your body.

Let’s face it, this is the time of year when disease-promoting foods are abundant. But wholesome food is foundational for staying healthy especially during the hectic holiday season.  Some of my favorite health-promoting foods to add to the daily routine include:

• Healthy fats like nuts, seeds, olives and avocados and their oils, nut butters, coconut and coconut oil, ghee, and grass-fed butter. These types of fats can help increase satiety making it easier to forgo holiday sweet treats.
• Lean proteins like poultry, fish, eggs, and grass-fed beef will also help with satiety, but are wonderful sources of amino acids, which are important neurotransmitter precursors. Neurotransmitters help decrease depressive symptoms, but also regulate food intake, which is even more important during stressful times.
• Green leafy vegetables, and a variety of fruits and vegetables, provide a plethora of vitamins, minerals, water, and valuable fiber, but as reported in a systematic review in the journal Nutrients, also provide important mental health benefits for those under stress.
• Increase intake of foods that promote glutathione production. Glutathione is the master antioxidant of the body and can quickly become depleted during stressful times. Liposomal glutathione or its precursor N-acetylcysteine are possible supplement options, but as reported in the journal Nutrients, certain foods such as lean proteins, brassica vegetables, polyphenol-rich fruits and vegetables, herbs, spices, green tea, and fish may support glutathione synthesis.
• Consider intermittent fasting. While avoiding all inflammatory foods during the holidays is unlikely for most people, intermittent fasting can be a great tool for letting the body rest and repair. I recommend a 12-hour overnight fast for most days and a longer fast one or two days per week.

One gift I give myself is to take a few minutes each week to draft a menu.  I gather my favorite healthy cookbooks, choose my dinner recipes for the week, and then go to the grocery store to get everything I need to make healthy meals. It really cuts down on the stress of trying to figure out what to eat and I’ve usually got leftovers for breakfast or lunch.  If I’ve got a particularly hectic week ahead, I choose meals that take less than 30 minutes to make or ones that can be made ahead of time.

In addition, I make several loaded green smoothies and store them in the refrigerator for a simple breakfast or snack option. Of course, healthy meal kit companies can be a great tool as well during busy times.

When it comes to food, perfection is never required, but sticking with the basics on most days will help to keep the immune system on track and decrease physical stress on the body.

Practice mindful movement.

Exercise is a great tool for stress management, disease prevention, and improving disease outcomes, but when you’re short on time from holiday commitments, it can be the first thing to go. Even a 10-minute walk after each meal can provide important health benefits and decrease sedentary time until you can get back to your normal routine. One randomized controlled trial in the Journal of Science in Medicine and Sport, found a 10-minute walk of moderate intensity after meals lowered post-prandial glucose levels when compared to no walking after meals.  It’s important to remember that your exercise routine may change during this time, but it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. 

Take foundational supplements.

While wholesome food choices are especially important during the holiday rush, nutritional supplements can provide some added insurance.

• Vitamin D. Deficiency of this important hormone is common in the United States and maintaining optimal vitamin D levels is practically impossible during the winter months without supplementation. Vitamin D is an important immunomodulator, so I like to see vitamin D levels of greater than 40 ng/mL with higher levels for those with chronic diseases like autoimmunity.  Test your vitamin D levels and supplement based on your specific needs.
• Multivitamin. As reported in the journal Nutrients, micronutrient deficiencies are common, so I often recommend a high-quality multivitamin to fill the gaps. While multivitamin research is sometimes conflicting, it’s important to remember many of the studies are flawed. I encourage practitioners to add a daily multivitamin during stressful times and to cut down to three days per week for maintenance assuming a nutrient-dense diet is being followed.
• Magnesium. According to a 2020 review, magnesium deficiency is common, but this mineral is an important player in the stress response. During times of high stress, magnesium loss may be increased and this decline in magnesium further increases susceptibility to stress. I recommend 200 to 400 milligrams of magnesium glycinate about 30 minutes before bed to help promote relaxation, restful sleep, and to meet the increased magnesium demand during times of high stress.

Learn to say no.

Finding work-life balance throughout the year can be a challenge and it’s even more difficult during the holidays. Integrative providers are often involved in many different projects, but at the end of the day there is only so much time and so much mental energy available. Allow yourself the pleasure of saying no to things you don’t really want to do or simply don’t have the time to do. My rule of thumb, if it keeps me from maintaining my healthy routine, I politely decline.

The holidays can be a wonderful time in many ways, but they can also cause increased stress and sideline a healthy routine. Give yourself a break and know it’s ok if you have to modify your typical healthy practices as long as you are maintaining balance overall. Afterall, a balanced lifestyle leads to feeling great and that makes the important work of integrative providers all the more meaningful.

References

Goyal, M. (2014) Meditation programs for psychological stress and well-being: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA internal medicine. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4142584/

Liu, Y. (2016) Prevalence of Healthy Sleep Duration among Adults–United States, 2014. MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report. Retrieved from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26890214/

Shambrook, P. (2020) A comparison of acute glycaemic responses to accumulated or single bout walking exercise in apparently healthy, insufficiently active adults. Journal of science and medicine in sport. Retrieved from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32173259/

Minich, D. M., & Brown, B. I. (2019) A Review of Dietary (Phyto)Nutrients for Glutathione Support. Nutrients. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6770193/

Prietl, B., Treiber, G., Pieber, T. R., & Amrein, K. (2013) Vitamin D and immune function. Nutrients. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3738984/

Blumberg, J. B., Bailey, R. L., Sesso, H. D., & Ulrich, C. M. (2018) The Evolving Role of Multivitamin/Multimineral Supplement Use among Adults in the Age of Personalized Nutrition. Nutrients. Retrieved from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29470410/

He, W., & Wu, G. (2020) Metabolism of Amino Acids in the Brain and Their Roles in Regulating Food Intake. Advances in experimental medicine and biology. Retrieved from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32761576/

Głąbska, D., Guzek, D., Groele, B., & Gutkowska, K. (2020) Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Mental Health in Adults: A Systematic Review. Nutrients. Retrieved from:  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7019743/

Pickering, G. (2020) Magnesium Status and Stress: The Vicious Circle Concept Revisited. Nutrients. Retrieved from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33260549/