Don’t Blast your Health with a Holiday Blast

April and May holidays can turn out to have a very dangerous effect on your health. Many teenagers and young people would have finished their final examinations at this time. Working people would have pushed themselves to finish projects and meet financial targets during the last 3 months. Mentally everybody, even the mothers and wives supporting all the above mentioned people are looking forward to a break.

Unfortunately today relaxation and fun is almost completely connected with eating, overeating and indulging in very rich fatty foods. One meal out or an indulgence in delicious ice-cream or pastry one evening is not the idea. Its weeks of fun and holidays are not for 2-3 days but for a week, 10 days or if people go abroad, they indulge for 2-3 weeks.

The results that follow can be dangerous and disastrous. Some recent observations are that in 2-3 weeks one can gain even 5kgs and this can result in sudden changes in blood sugar and other health problems. A teenager who had indulged for 2 weeks after his exams and then gone on a 2 week holiday was diagnosed with blood sugar levels above 150mg/dl after his 4 weeks of indulgence. A 70year old gentleman traveled abroad for a month. He was a regular walker who walked for an hour daily on a treadmill in his home. On this holiday he did not maintain a daily walk and indulged in eating some chocolate daily and wine quite frequently. When he returned he was feeling quite ill and uncomfortable and a routine blood test revealed that he had developed high blood sugar.

Similarly we have observed that a persons overindulgence, sudden weight gain and irregularity in the exercise schedule during a holiday can lead to a rise in blood sugar, rise in levels of cholesterol and triglyceride, rise in uric acid levels and even rise in blood pressure.

1. Our first advice is to have the right mind set when you holiday. Holidays are to basically get away from the routine of work and household chores. Holidays are to meet new people and see new places and enjoy different activities and different food. Enjoy all this and the food of course but do not just overeat for the sake of eating or comforting yourself. Food is for health, nourishment and pleasure, not to binge on and harm your self.

2. Do not over eat breakfast, skip lunch and over eat dinner again. Do not skip breakfast and overeat lunch or dinner.

3. Do not over indulge in alcohol. Drink only once a day either at lunch or dinner. And if possible don’t drink daily, try to give a gap of 48 -72 hours between each time you drink.

Finally do not reduce your water intake on a holiday. Drink 2-3 liters daily and of course there is no holiday for exercise. Try to fit in a 25-30 min. walk daily which will help you to maintain your weight right through. Happy Holidays.