Hamming It Up for Xmas

On November 24th the U.S. Census Bureau issued a news release filled with interesting Thanksgiving facts.

For example, did you know that the first Thanksgiving actually took place this month, in December 1621, and not in November as we now observe. It took another 242 years before Thanksgiving became a national holiday, forever enshrined as the last Thursday of November by President Abraham Lincoln.

But while the date we observe Thanksgiving has changed from it’s original December observance to its present November holiday, one thing remains constant: it’s a national excuse to overeat.

And for people with diabetes; malabsorptive syndromes; lactose intolerance; Crohn’s, Colitis, Celiac, or inflammatory bowel diseases; or other lower-GI issues, Thanksgiving can be one of the most uncomfortable, gassiest holidays of the year.

Indeed, this year I personally suffered for days with flatulence issues, after eating too much of my Aunt’s delicious homemade cole slaw. The cabbage in her slaw causes severe gas for the same reasons beans do.

If you suffered, or are still suffering, as a result of your Thanksgiving dinner, it’s not too late to think about how you will survive—indeed, enjoy—your next challenging feast: Christmas dinner.

Eating too much of anything can (and often does) overburden your digestive system, and cause undesirable effects. This problem is exacerbated when the foods in question are refined, processed foods such as stuffing, filling, breads, pies, cakes, etc.

These foods are devoid of enzymes, which the body needs to break them down. Complicating matters: our bodies don’t handle raw foods very well anymore; because they’ve become accustomed to digesting the refined processed stuff.

The best way to avoid the consequences of your Christmas ham or turkey dinner: reduce your intake of gravy, stuffing, and other white refined foods (yeah, like that’s possible), while increasing your intake of lightly cooked (preferably steamed) vegetables.

When it comes to big holiday dinners, you really are what you eat.

And if someone you know returned from their Thanksgiving holiday smelling, well, not like roses, send them an anonymous Gassy Greeting Card. Maybe they’ll take the hint, and return from their Xmas dinner without that gas cloud in tow.