All you need for Christmas is this survival kit
If your body could tell you everything it wanted over the festive season, these gadgets, supplements and activities would be on its wish list.
Without wishing to put a damper on festivities before they have begun, the next two weeks are prime time for complaints about poor digestion, mood slumps, deteriorating skin and fatigue. What’s needed are survival strategies that will push body and mind over the festive finish line without them having deteriorated into tatters. Here’s a guide to getting through it all:
1. Squeeze in a two-minute workout on Christmas Day
When it comes to exercise, anything is better than nothing at this time of year and a newly published study in Nature Medicine journal suggests that even two-minute bursts of activity are better than parking yourself on the sofa to watch another box set. British and Australian researchers tracked activity data of 25,000 participants in the UK Biobank, a database of medical information. Most people in the trial did very little other than recreational walking to stay fit, but those who also engaged in one or two-minute vigorous activity bursts such as fast walking, running upstairs or high-knee running on the spot three times daily were nearly 50 per cent less likely to die from heart disease and about 40 per cent less likely to get cancer over seven years than people who did not make the same effort.
2. Raid the nut bowl for a mind and body boost
There might be several benefits to eating a handful of unsalted mixed nuts. Scientists at the University of South Australia recently reported how eating two ounces of walnuts – that’s 6-7 whole walnuts – a day prevented significant changes in mental health-related scores and scores of stress and low mood. Eating the walnuts also helped to improve sleep quality in a four-month trial, and in women participants seemed to protect against stress-induced damage to the diversity of beneficial gut bacteria. “The findings really paint a picture of how a simple food like walnuts can help combat stress,” says Mauritz F Herselman, one of the researchers.
And that’s not all. In February a study in the British Journal of Nutrition reported that women dieters who added a daily intake of three brazil nuts and a small handful (30g) of cashew nuts to their food intake lost significantly more body fat than those who didn’t consume the nuts. In a previous study, people who consumed that amount of brazil nuts felt fuller and less hungry than those who didn’t eat them. Don’t overdo it – nuts won’t help you to lose weight if you eat too many of them.
3. Don’t wear your new slippers when cooking dinner
Standing on a hard floor for hours while preparing Christmas dinner is unkind to your feet, but there are measures you can take to protect them. “The worst thing you can wear on your feet to cook Christmas dinner is slippers, which have little or no arch and foot support or cushioning so will just lead to aching feet,” says the consultant podiatrist Emma McConnachie, spokeswoman for the Royal College of Podiatry. “Trainers are fine, or you could try a pair of ‘recovery’ shoes, which aren’t miracle workers but tend to be very cushioned and comfortable.”
Options include Oofos recovery shoes (£125/$226; oofos.com) or Hoka’s Ora recovery shoes (£60/$108; hoka.com). When your feet have had too much, try soaking them in warm water with Epsom salts added and rub in a nourishing foot cream, McConnachie says. Try This Works Heels Rescue Balm (£14.45/$26.20; johnlewis.com) with cotton thistle and lavender extract to soothe and restore or Aveda’s classic Foot Relief Cream (£24/$48; aveda.com.au) with peppermint and tea tree oils to invigorate tired feet.
4. Got indigestion? Artichoke extract might help
Piling up your plate with turkey and all the trimmings and then having one too many mince pies is only going to end one way. “Indigestion is characterised by a feeling of discomfort in the upper abdomen, which often occurs after you’ve over-eaten,” says the nutritionist Rob Hobson. “It causes symptoms such as excess wind, belching and nausea.” Hobson suggests taking a supplement of artichoke extract, which contains antioxidant compounds and an active constituent called cynarin that have been shown to “restore normal functioning of digestive enzymes in the stomach, minimising indigestion and helping to protect the liver”. Try Healthspan’s version (£10.45/$19; healthspan.co.uk).
5. Go easy with your new grooming and beauty presents
“Product cycling” is not great for the skin, so avoid swapping from one new gift product to another before your skin has the chance to see if it “agrees” with it, says Dr Unnati Desai, a GP who specialises in dermatology at Nuffield Health. “It can take up to three skin cycles – a skin cycle is four to six weeks – for a skin condition to change, so you need to be patient and give it time. At least three months is recommended unless irritation occurs.” Natural moisturisers and cleansing balms, and oils that maintain the skin’s moisture are recommended, and Desai says a non-alcohol-based toner will help to balance the pH of the skin. If there’s one product worth investing in, Dr Zainab Laftah, a consultant dermatologist at HCA The Shard, says it is La Roche Posey Cicaplast Baume B5 (£12/$22; boots.com), her go-to Christmas skin fix. “I love it as my festive SOS repair cream,” she says. “It’s formulated to address the damaged skin barrier, which is very common during the winter months due to the cold weather, and contains vitamin B5, zinc and manganese. It boosts the skin-healing process and reduces inflammation.”
Over the festive season, partying and alcohol along with too little sleep can have an impact on our skin. “Drinking too much enlarges the blood vessels, resulting in flushing of the cheeks, which can be a short-term and long-term effect,” Desai says. “And when we’re sleep-deprived, the amygdala, a brain region that handles emotional processing, becomes more reactive, resulting in raised stress levels, which increases production of adrenaline and cortisol, hormones that cause skin to become inflamed.”
6. Get outside on Boxing Day
You can be forgiven for hibernating on Christmas Day, but getting outdoors on Boxing Day – even if you are feeling sluggish – will do wonders for you mood. Spending time in nature is a proven way to rid yourself of anxiety and post-Christmas mood dip. In a review of 14,321 individual records and 50 studies, health scientists from the University of York confirmed last year that nature-based activities lasting for 20 to 90 minutes led to improved mood, less anxiety and positive emotions.
“Our study reinforces the growing evidence that doing things in nature is associated with large gains in mental health,” says Dr Peter Coventry, one of the study authors. “While doing these activities on your own is effective, among the studies we reviewed it seems that doing them in groups led to greater gains in mental health.” That includes you, Grandad.
If you are feeling particularly energetic and prefer exercising with others, there are plenty of free parkrun 5kms for the whole family on Boxing Day – check out the nearest here.
7. Combat stress at the in-laws’
If your hackles are rising after only an hour or two at the in-laws’, then it is time for emergency stress-relieving breathing strategies. You could try breathing in through your nose and out through the mouth for a count of five repeatedly, as recommended by the NHS or, better still, ask for a Moonbird (£159/$290; moonbird.life/product) for Christmas. This hand-held “tactile breath pacer” has been shown in a published pilot study to instil a sense of calm when you feel frazzled. A 2022 paper in the journal Frontiers in Digital Health found it also helped people to fall asleep 28 per cent quicker and stay asleep for longer. Grab it from your handbag at the first inkling of irritation, hold it in the palm of your hand and select a breathing pattern set to calming pulsations that are synced via an accompanying app.
8. Keep an eye on your waistline
Christmas is not the time for calorie restriction, but overindulgence will take its toll and any extra centimetres gained will be hard to shift come January. Weight gain of 1-4lb is common over Christmas although self-monitoring can help keep it at bay.
If you can’t bear to step on the scales, then keeping tabs on your waist circumference is marginally less painful. For men a waist circumference below 94cm (37in) and for women below 80cm (31.5in) is considered “low risk” for health and heart disease. It’s easy to get inaccurate readings – or to cheat – with a regular tape measure so it’s worthwhile investing in a smart tape measure (£23.99/$45; renpho.uk) that connects via Bluetooth to an app to record data measurements.
9. Beat the bloat
Natural anti-bloat supplements with names like Bye Bye Bloat promising fast relief from festive swelling have been flying off shelves in the USA for a couple of years and are now trending here. Typically containing a blend of digestive enzymes and plant extracts such as dandelion root and ginger, they are designed to be taken after a meal or before bedtime to reduce uncomfortable bloating.
Ideally, you should start taking products such as Nue Co Debloat (£40/$73), with ingredients including licorice root extract, organic turmeric, ginger root and cinnamon root, twice a day from now so you are ready for the festive onslaught. Alternatively, the recently launched Wild Dose (£10/$19; wild-dose.com), with its probiotics and herbal extracts, claims to work rapidly to eliminate bloating as soon as you start to feel it, so may be a useful standby.
Eli Brecher, a Harley Street nutritionist specialising in gut health, says specific, targeted supplements may be more beneficial for some people. “One supplement I recommend to my clients who struggle with bloating at this time of year is pure peppermint oil capsules, which can be helpful for relaxing the intestinal muscles and encourage food and air to move along the digestive tract,” she says. “Herbal teas including peppermint, licorice and fennel tea can all be helpful tools to have on hand – although the latter two should be avoided during pregnancy and peppermint oil products are not good if you suffer from heartburn.
“A bit of bloating after a heavy meal is normal, but persistent uncomfortable bloating could be an indication of a more serious condition, so do speak to your GP if this is a concern,” Brecher adds.
10. Ask Santa for a party-proof stocking filler
If everything goes to pot and you are nursing a hangover, at least be prepared for the thumping head and queasiness. A Party Proofed Stack selection box (£37.99/$69; get-nourished.com) contains a 28-day supply of sugar-free gummy vitamins that contain seven ingredients – including milk thistle extract, which has been shown to help alleviate nausea, vitamin B12 to support energy levels and ginger extract to offset an upset stomach. None of it is scientifically proven but when the other option is the hair of the dog, perhaps it’s worth a shot.
The Times
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