Teetotally awesome :: Emotional and Mental Health

Teetotally awesome

Here’s another reason to avoid alcohol over the holiday season–it can make you overeat. According to a study from the Department of Psychology at the University of Sussex, UK, moderate alcohol consumption before a meal can lead to a short-term increase in food intake. Drinking a few toasts to the holiday season can suppress certain mechanisms in the body that are responsible for appetite control that can lead to overeating .

Don’t forget that the high carbohydrate content in alcohol can also lead to fast weight gain with beer, martinis, and port wine being high on the list. So instead of reaching for that second or third glass of champagne (also high in carbs) and parking yourself next to the buffet table, switch to carbonated water or fruit juices and work the crowd instead. It’ll do your social life and your waistline a lot of good.

Source: alive #T

Put the Ho Ho Ho Back into Your Holidays
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Up, Up and Away
Be warned when you cross over the threshold of the airplane as you begin your winter holida.

Greening the Haul-idays
Give a gift to the environment

Whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas or the African heritage festival Kwanza, traditions no doubt dictate the food you eat, the decorations you display a.

Fitting in Holiday Fitness
How many of us have a difficult time of fitting some form of physical activity into our daily routine? During hectic times like Christmas, many of us simply give up without a fight, cutting back on our fitness routines because of the demands of the.

'Tis the Season for Over-Eatin'
Ah, December. The holiday season-that time of year when we gather with family and friends, give gifts, exchange good cheer, and of course, eat and eat and eat. We probably eat more in December than during any other month of the year.

Low-Impact Vacationing
Vacations are opportunities to focus on relaxation, fun, and personal and spiritual growth. For many of us, vacations are limited to a few weeks per year and further constrained by financial, family, and health-related factors.

Holiday Stress
Ho, ho, hold the stress. The coming holiday season is supposed to be full of laughter but many find it full of stress. It has been estimated that about three-quarters of all visits to primary care physicians are for stress-related problems..

Beating Christmas Stress
In an infamous experiment in the 1960s, lab researchers wanted to examine effects of stress on rats. First, they took an individual rat, isolated it, then injected it with increasing doses of amphetamines until, in the name of science, the poor rat died. Next, researchers did the same to a group of rats in a confined area..

Gut Reaction
Pamela is bitter about her past experience with a gastroenterologist. "I have this mysterious gastrointestinal problem that was never diagnosed. I can't eat anything with flavour, and I get acid from even completely bland food..

A Symbiotic Relationship
The body's gastrointestinal tract or gut is central to maintaining health as it is this set of organs that digests food to properly nourish the body. Good digestion requires normal flora (good bacteria) and a healthy pH balance in the gut.

Eat, Drink, and be Healthy
Everyone is familiar with the old saying, "You are what you eat." A more accurate rendition might be, "You are what you absorb," because that's what digestion is all about: It's the process that converts food into substances that can be absorbed by the body.

Help for the Holiday Season
Holidays are a time to celebrate with family and friends, and to yield to the temptation to overindulge in food and drink. Study results from the New England Journal of Medicine (March 2000) has scientifically confirmed that, on average, we gain a pound of weight during the festive season.

Green Christmas
The Christmas tree is up and decorated, filling the house with fresh fragrance, but it's already turning dry and dropping needles everywhere. After all, a tree begins to die the moment it's cut down. Many people have turned to plastic trees for convenience, but they can seem so ... plastic.

Create the Holiday You'd Love to Have
Take two weeks in December to break yourroutine-travel, overeat, overdrink, under-exercise, and undersleep (with relatives inclose quarters)-and you have the potential for disaster. Oh yeah, add a NewYear's celebration in there, too.

De-Stressing Our Children This Holiday Season
When we think of the holiday season, weconjure up images of beautifully wrappedpresents, out-of-town relatives, and delicious food. Yet, even though the holidayseason can be filled with joy and abundance, this time of year can also bequite stressful for adults and children.

Mother's Day Celebration
The role of motherhood has been honoured for centuries, but it wasn't until 1914, after countless campaigning efforts by women such as Ms. Anna Jarvis, that US President Woodrow Wilson declared Mother's Day as a national holiday to be held each year on the second Sunday of May.

Making a Difference Together
Many busy families would like to have more time to volunteer for causes they believe in or to give something back to their communities. Volunteering as a family instils these values in children, even from an early age.

Writing for wound healing
Pen and paper are powerful healers, according to a fascinating British study. Researchers found writing about emotions and feelings helps wounds heal more quickly.

Heartburn?

Take an Active Spa Vacation
I remember the exact moment of my epiphany. It was in Key West.

Green Escapes
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Green Holiday Entertaining
Now that green is all the rage, eco-friendly events are popping up everywhere, especially during the holiday season. Planning your own environmentally conscious event is not only manageable, but it's also fashionable.

All I Want for Christmas
When I asked my daughter about what to write for December's column, her immediate reply was "snowmen. While that's probably not the ideal basis for an entire article, it did get me thinking.

Coffee, tea, or...Disinsection?
Disinsection is the term used to describe the spraying of aircraft with insecticide. The World Health Organization deems the amount and type of chemicals used for disinsection to be safe. Not everyone agrees.

Vacation Without the Spread
Vacations are often a time to kick back, soak up the rays, and unfortunately, sometimes gain weight. When you’re on a tropical cruise or frolicking between cafés in Provence, it’s much too easy to forget about your commitment to a healthy lifestyle and just give in to your new surroundings.