By Dr. Pradip Jamnadas

During the holiday season we tend to overindulge in our passion for good food. Instead of focusing so much on the food, we should put our focus on family and friends. We should concentrate on being happy. When we are happy we find we do not need to fulfill ourselves through eating.

Happy people do not dwell in the regrets of past or the concerns of the future. If we are happy and living in the moment, we can resist overindulgence. Try to deal with unforgiveness issues with your loved ones before you break bread with them. When you are dealing with unforgiveness (link to story on forgiveness), guilt and regret, you tend to eat more to compensate. When you are thankful and you are enjoying the positive vibrations of those around you, then you can enjoy the people and the food, in that order of importance.

Here are some tips from Dr. “J” on how to enjoy the sumptuous foods of the season with healthy restraints.

DONT’S

Don’t indulge your sweet tooth: The most devastating thing you can do to your metabolism is to eat desserts. Sweets, or concentrated sugars in deserts, are full of sugars and have a high glycemic index — a measurement of how much certain foods raise your blood sugar. Once you’ve eaten anything high in sugar, for the next six hours everything you eat will go directly into storage. This is a result of the high blood sugar your body will have to produce resulting in insulin production, which is designed to remove the sugar from your blood by putting it in storage. Let’s say for instance that you’ve just had a wonderfully healthy salmon and vegetable dinner and decide to have a rich dessert afterwards. That desert will send your glycemic index up and cause that entire meal to go into storage, thus doing your body no immediate good.

Fizzling out: Soda should be avoided for a number of reasons. Studies show that carbonated drinks dilate the stomach. So it takes a larger meal to satisfy you the next time you eat. Studies have also proven that people who drink water with their meals eat less than soda drinkers. Phosphoric acid and carbonic acid, which are found in sodas, promote osteoporosis. Thirty percent of women in the United States still have osteopenia or low bone density, which can lead to easy bone fractures. It makes no difference whether you drink diet or regular soda. You cannot fool the body. The body was designed to associate a taste with an end product. Other words, when the tongue tastes sweet the body is expecting the calories. So when the calories don’t come, the body craves more the next time you feed it.

Drop that zero: Beer and alcohol are empty calories. Two glasses of wine is approximately 500 calories. You will have to run three miles an hour for 45 minutes to burn those calories off, hence the beer belly. Having that second drink also drives up your blood pressure and you should not drive after that second drink anyway. Only have one drink at a party. The toxic affects of alcohol on the liver can be felt sooner in women than men.

Missed meals: Skipping meals in anticipation of consuming a larger meal later will slow your metabolism. Your body will go into storage mode. Then further insult your metabolism, you will actually eat more food for dinner to compensate for the hunger. The body was designed to eat four to five smaller portions of food a day to maintain steady metabolism

DO’S

Soy to the world: Drink soy milk instead of cow’s milk. Cow’s milk contains the protein casein, which is difficult to digest. It also is the wrong protein for adults to consume. Casein prevents the absorption of other nutrients your body needs during the day. Cow’s milk is also allergenic. The fat content in cow’s milk is much higher than soy milk. Studies also show that one-third of the U.S. population is lactose intolerant.

Snack time: Fruits and vegetables such as peaches, plums, apricots and apples are wonderful for the body. They are rich in antioxidants and have a lot of fiber, so they fill you up. They don’t have a lot of sugar, which will cause your body to go into storage mode. Fruits that are high in antioxidants include blueberries, strawberries and blackberries. These berries are great for shakes, and by adding a protein powder you will lower the glycemic index of the shake. These shakes with the protein powder are also good for diabetics. It is better to eat raw fruits than consume them in juice forms. Raw fruits are higher in antioxidants while fruit juices are high in fructose. Fruit juices are high in fructose, which also has a high glycemic index. A little known fact is that once you juice something you must consume it in eight minutes because it will be oxidized quickly. This oxidation greatly diminishes the antioxidant value. An example of this is you will notice when you cut an apple in slices it starts to turn brown after it has been left out. By nature, all fruits should be consumed immediately once cut open.

High spirits: In well documented studies, one glass of red wine has a high overall value to cardiovascular health. It is high in flavinoids, which protects against damage to blood vessels, and antioxidants, which help prevent damage to heart arteries and other tissues.

Still waters: Drink LOTS of water. Every metabolic reaction in the body occurs in water. Water is the most important nutrient in your diet.

Going organic: Try to consume organic foods as opposed to inorganic foods. Organic foods such as fruits and vegetables are ripened naturally and have less exposure to toxins and pesticides.

Omega code: Omega 3 fatty acids are an integral part of cardiovascular and neurological functions. You can find Omega 3 fatty acids in almonds, walnut oil, walnuts and flax seed oil. You can also get Omega 3s from two servings of fish per week. Any more than that puts you at risk of consuming too much mercury and other toxins. Pharmaceutical grade fish oil is one of the best sources of this supplement because it is free from mercury and is quickly absorbed in the system. If you are taking this supplement in capsule form, it is important to not consume more than 2 grams a day to be within the daily requirement.

Pradip Jamnadas, MD, MBBS, FACC, FSCAI, FCCP, FACP Is an interventional cardiologist in Orlando, FL with a diverse patient base of more than 42,000 people. He lectures around the world on how your self awareness can add years to your life.