Don’t let Christmas health complaints send you crackers

The festive season is usually full of fun and excitement, spending quality time with family and friends. Occasionally though, Christmas can make even the most festive of us turn into a seasonal moaner.

It’s not just the common complaints that a new survey has revealed as our top Christmas hates, including crowded shops, early Christmas hype and Christmas TV, our health can also suffer with the additional merriment the season brings.

Although we all love to moan, complaints regarding health and wellbeing at Christmas can usually be avoided, Dr Niall Dove, GP from BMI Syon Clinic explains, “Christmas is always an exciting time of the year, but we usually try to cram a lot of things into a short period of time, which, rather than enjoying Christmas, can make it quite stressful.

“Christmas can also mean we spend a lot of time over-indulging ourselves with copious amounts of food and drink we normally wouldn’t consume throughout the year. This can lead to us feeling sluggish and bloated, and over consumption may also have long-term effects on our health.”

To stay healthy over the festive period, BMI Healthcare shares its top tips –

1) Avoid over eating: When it comes to eating, Christmas is usually a time of indulgence; there are a lot of family dinners to attend and meals out with friends, with it being reported that we eat almost three or four times more calories than we need. Christmas dinner alone comes in at just under 1000kcal before adding Christmas pudding, mince pies, chocolates, nuts, cheese and biscuits, breakfast and that cold turkey sandwich for tea. Enjoy yourself but eat everything in moderation and exercise regularly even if it is just a brisk winter walk - your waistline and future health will thank you for it.

2) Hangover Prevention/Treatment: The festive season is more than one day, with many people consuming too much alcohol throughout the month of December, with reports that alcohol consumption in Britain increases by 40% in December . A glass, or two, of champagne to celebrate Christmas is great but if you do wake up with a hangover after one too many alcoholic beverages make sure to drink plenty of water to keep hydrated and try to eat fruit and vegetables to replace the vitamins you may have lost.

3) Take away the stress: Christmas can be stressful; overcrowded shops, entertaining guests and a lot of cooking can all take its toll. Learn to cope with stress with management techniques ; preparation can be key to a stress-free day, write lists of what needs to be done and try to delegate as many jobs as possible. Take time for yourself, relax and treat yourself to a well needed break before becoming overwhelmed by your festive tasks.

4) Keep active: The lead up to Christmas can be just as exciting as the day itself, but by the time we get to Christmas day tiredness can set in and activities such as the family board game can become more of a chore. To keep the festive fun going for longer try some exercise after your Christmas dinner rather than having a nap on the sofa, you will be surprised at how your energy levels bounce back.

5) Arm yourself against illness: Cold and flu symptoms are synonymous with the winter season; there are lots of germs around and it is likely that we will all suffer from the symptoms of a common cold at some point during the season. If you are one of the unlucky ones suffering on Christmas day make sure to wrap up warm and drink plenty of fluids. If your symptoms persist and you need medical advice speak to your GP.

*If you are concerned about any aspect of your health over the festive season speak to your GP.