The 12 Nutr’isms of Christmas

Here are twelve Nutr’isms of Christmas to up-health your festive meals.

1. Add beneficial essential Omega-3 foods to your festive meals, such as oily fish as a novel Brain-enhancing appetiser.  (If oily fish is not to your taste, other sources of essential Omega fats include avocado, chia and flax seeds, olives, nuts if not allergic and dentition can manage them.)  Beneficial Omega fats support the composition, structure, and function of the Brain, bestow an anti-inflammatory effect upon the whole body, and contribute to the production of Ketones – an alternative Brain fuel to glucose carbohydrates without the accompanying energy-fluctuating blood sugar spike.  If you meal is carbohydrate rich adding a beneficial fat also helps ‘buffer’ the rapid absorption of sugar (and subsequent blood sugar spike which may induce sleepiness), so it’s a win-win for blood sugar balancing and Brain health.

2. Chocolate at Christmas?  No problem, but make it cacao-rich.  Whether it appears in your Christmas Stocking, or you are gifted it under the Christmas Tree, chocolate with 85% (or greater) cacao content is beneficial for your Brain health since it may support blood flow to the Brain, Brain Neurone* maturity, and memory & mood optimisation.  (*The specific name of cells in the Brain.)

3. Frolic fibre into your Christmas meals.  Both soluble and insoluble fibre are useful for regulating Neuroinflammation (a potential trigger for β-Amyloid plaque development; a hallmark of Alzheimer’s Dementia) and optimising gut health, and we know from the Gut-Brain Axis that the two are integrally linked.  Easy ways to introduce festive fibre might be to forego peeling potatoes, bejewel your meals with a pinch of pomegranate (this may also contribute to improved visual memory), and/or dust a teaspoon of ground flax seeds into your Christmas meals.

4. It is wise to keep learning over Christmas.  As much as our Brain needs a rest it also needs appropriate stimulation to support cognitive reserve and Neuroplasticity – key cornerstones to a Dementia risk-avoidance healthspan.  So whether it’s dusting off the Boardgames, musical instruments, language-learning devices, hands-on cooking or spontaneously acquiring a new skill; nurture your Brain’s alacrity over Christmas.

5. Christmas Cracker Choline-rich foods into your festive meals.  Choline may confer support for Neurone structure and messaging.  Wise Choline choices include meat and poultry (beef, chicken and turkey being the Choline-richest), but if you are vegetarian then eggs, broccoli, beans, quinoa and lentils also contain Choline.

6. Ask Santa to swap the brandy butter, cream, custard and ice cream for kefir or probiotic yoghurt as a condiment for your Christmas dessert.  Kefir and ‘live’ probiotic yoghurt contain beneficial bacteria which support and optimise your gut microbiome diversity.  What’s good for the gut is generally beneficial for the Brain, and this swap also reduces the sugar content in your festive dessert so it’s a win-win for health all around.  (If you are intolerant to dairy you could include a prebiotic or probiotic food in your meal instead, such as asparagus, onions, oats or sauerkraut, or have a glass of kombucha – mindful of the sugar content – as an alternative bubbly Christmas drink.)

7. Hail the Cephalic Phase of digestion.  This is the first stage of digestion which has the potential to set-up the digestive process from head-to-toe.  It involves being fully in the moment with your food; seeing it, smelling it, touching it, and importantly taking your time to chew it.  Chewing is also useful for supporting Brain function and reaction times, and for gently generating Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor; a naturally-derived protein supporting growth, plasticity and survival of Neurones.  So if you are the person preparing the Christmas meals; however arduous chopping vegetables may seem take comfort (and be a little bit smug) from the fact that this process is contributing to your digestive comfort.  (And you can tell your guests that chopping certain vegetables shortly before cooking may increase their nutrient bioavailability, so you’re giving everyone’s health an extra Christmas present.)

8. Deck your plate with boughs of … dark green leafy vegetables!  Cruciferous vegetables – broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale confer benefits to Brain health through their nutrient density; they host anti-inflammatory properties, support oxygenated blood circulation to the Brain and are rich in neuroprotective phytochemicals.  So ‘go green with abundance’ and embrace the sprinkling of festive colour to your Christmas meals.

9. Encourage the Elves to introduce Brain-friendly Kitchen Hygiene practices such as minimising plastic food storage units and Electromagnetic Field ‘mobile’ device exposure whenever possible; instead using the festive season as an opportunity to talk rather than text.  Filtering clean air (minimising artificial fumes & scents) in your cooking & living environments also supports your Brain’s cognitive function.

10. Jingle a bit of gentle movement into your Christmas festivities to amplify the cognition supporting Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor generated by exercise.  This is nicely supported by resistance exercise, so if your mobility permits do carry the plates of food from their preparation area to the table.  Other Brain beneficial movements include dancing to the most unashamedly festive music you can find, (taking care not to disturb or overturn any food or liquids on surfaces) or having a walk between meals.  (If you are so inclined, accompany dancing with unabashed Christmassy singing since music is beneficial for Vagal Tone and Dementia risk-avoidance alike.)

11. Decorate your food with a splash of Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  This condiment is hugely influential in the highly-researched Mediterranean diet and it bestows considerable Brain health benefits; it supports Neurone function and longevity, it is potently anti-inflammatory and its beneficial fat content supports the integrity of the Blood-Brain-Barrier and the Brain’s structure.  It may also benefit gut health, potentially exhibiting a probiotic effect on the gut microbiome beneficial species of bacteria and supporting mucosal immunity, (studies differ slightly, but it is estimated that 70-80% of our immune cells reside in our gut).

12. It’s only a few more sleeps to Christmas, but try to maintain Circadian rhythm consistency, quality sleep and finish eating two-three hours before going to sleep.  Achieving restorative sleep is vital for Brain detoxification, health and function, but this is made more difficult when the stomach is full and efficient digestion may be harder to achieve when horizontal; Gravity doesn’t support digestion as efficiently in this position.

Please note that these are general recommendations for ways you can increase the nutritional balance, richness and value of your festive meals.  They are not personalised and they are not tailored to include recommendations for any existing health imbalances or medical conditions.  In these cases, if you have a health or medical condition that needs specific nutritional management and requirements, please consult a medical professional and/or a Nutritionist/Dietician expert.

In the meantime, don’t forget Eat, Drink, Think Nutrition and spare a thought (no pun intended) for your Brain health.  Losing your Brain power can be even more devastating to you and those around you than losing an aspect of your physical health, so why wouldn’t you start to look after your Brain right away since diet and lifestyle modifications actioned NOW could save a lot of distress and heartbreak later in life.

REMEMBER: if you are taking any medications always consult a Registered Nutritional Therapist as well as your Doctor before making significant dietary or lifestyle changes.  This blog post is written for educational purposes only and in reference to ‘food’.  It is NOT advocating taking dietary supplements.  It is very important to please always consult a Registered Nutritional Therapist or your Doctor before introducing any dietary supplements into your health regime as these qualified professionals will be able to offer personalised recommendations.

If sleep, Brain, cognitive and/or memory are issues which you are struggling with and you want to discover the inspiring & sustainable diet & lifestyle programmes offered by Nutritional Therapy, get in touch via the Contact Me page on this website, or directly on info@eatdrinkthinknutrition.co.uk for more information about 1:2:1 Consultations with Eat Drink Think Nutrition®.