Overindulging can bring ‘holiday ailment’ woes
Print Edition
Having fancy meals during Spring Festival is a way to celebrate the success of the past year and wish for a prosperous life in the next year. The 1,000-year-old tradition, however, becomes a burden for many people when they feel they must eat big meals throughout the seven-day lunar New Year feast.
Doctors suggest enjoying yourself at the dinner table but to not overdo it, as prevention is always better than having to seek treatments.
Big meals at Spring Festival used to be the best days for Chinese in times when people were often hungry. But it now seems to trigger a high occurrence of health problems because, instead of facing malnutrition, many people eat too much.
“Holiday ailments” is a new term to indicate the discomfort hitting people during the holidays, and it is quite common among the Chinese today. Irregular diet may account for half of the problems, says Cai Jun, chief physician of the nutrition department of Longhua Hospital attached to Shanghai University of TCM.
“Disease enters by the mouth. The ancient Chinese saying just seems to be so true for such cases today,” said Cai.
Overeating for one meal while skipping the others, having to digest too much greasy food at one time, and a lack of physical exercise common in holidays often result in increasing weight, poor digestion and appetite, and even ailments like gastroenteritis (inflammation of the stomach and intestines) and cholecystitis (inflammation of the gallbladder).
It is even more dangerous for patients with chronic ailments to break their regular diet principles, according to Cai. These may include people on low-fat, low-salt, alcohol-free diets for those with cardiovascular disease; low-sugar, low-fat, low-protein and no alcohol for people with chronic digestive problems like stomach ulcer, cholecystitis and gastroenteritis; as well as diabetics and people with other metabolic diseases who must control their total calories and eat a combination of coarse grains, wheat and rice.
“Many people are interested in how they can get rid of the toxins they eat. I would always advise them not to take them in the first place. Don’t expect any magic pills eliminating all those greasy things you ate within days. The pills never exist,” said Cai.
A balanced and regular diet is essential to maintain health, especially for people with chronic problems.
“It is not easy to get into a healthy diet habit, so don’t just give it away easily on the excuse of holidays,” said Cai.
Many people tend to shift to a plain diet after the holiday. That may help relieve burdens on the digestive system to some extent, but Cai warns against going too far.
Though it is good to add a bit more green vegetables and coarse grains to the diet while reducing the others, it is definitely not advisable to eat nothing but vegetables and coarse grain, as too many fibers may further burden the unprepared digestive system, Cai says.
Cai also recommends against skipping meals for losing weight, since it will sap energy and make it difficult to concentrate at work.
“Eating on time, with proper portions, balanced ingredients and less seasoning, is always the principle for a healthy diet on holidays and ordinary days, as well,” said Cai. “And physical exercise always work more effectively in losing weight than skipping meals.”
Some tips that may help
Smashed ginger with vinegar: relieve indigestion from too much fish.
Hawthorns: relieve indigestion from too much meat.
Soup of 30g “chao mai ya” (fried barley sprouts): relieve indigestion from too much sticky rice.
Noodle soup: relieve indigestion from too many starchy foods.
Warm water or light tea: improve metabolism for fat.
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