Christmas Weight Gain: Risks & Health Concerns
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The agenda for the month of December – and part of January – does not fit one more event. The company dinner, the meal with friends at the gym, the multiple hangouts with friends, the ugly sweater party, birthdays, mid-afternoon walks to see the lights with hot chocolate, then churros. One wine, another… and the main course is still missing: family gatherings.
Social engagements are multiplying, and most are organized around a table or a bar counter. consequence? We tend to eat and drink excessively, and our body suffers… a lot. A study carried out by the European Institute of Obesity (IMEO) estimates that during the Christmas holidays we will gain an average of between 3 and 5 kilos (approximately 6.6 to 11 pounds), an excess weight that, in the best of cases, will take us a few weeks to get rid of. And in this calorie calculation, men are the worst off.According to another investigation carried out by the NC Salud group over five years, women gain an average of 1.8 kilos (approximately 4 pounds) compared to the more than four kilos (approximately 8.8 pounds) gained by men.
Grandma’s croquettes, a couple of slices of ham, a little salad to hide it, some prawns, that second piece of lamb you can’t say no to – lest your aunt get angry, who has spent the whole morning in the kitchen – a piece of cake, nougat, polvorones, a glass of cava… “A single Christmas meal can provide our body with between 2,500 and 3,000 calories, a quantity well above the recommended daily intake for an adult,” they point out at the International University of Valencia.
But not only that, Christmas celebrations also tend to be accompanied by digestive complications. «When there are so many changes in our eating routine, the stomach is generally the one that pays the consequences. Actually,it is indeed estimated that seven out of ten people suffer some gastrointestinal problem consequently of Christmas celebrations. These days’ meals are not only more caloric but also contain more uric acid and sugars than we normally consume, and all this excess of food and alcohol makes digestion elaborate, leading to gas, heartburn, and burning…,” says pharmacist Amanda Dutruc.
The ‘Fateful’ December 25
And if you thought things couldn’t get any more complicated, it turns out that December 25 is the day of the year in which the most people die from heart failure, followed by December 26 and january 1. The reasons are practically the same as why we gain weight: a dangerous combination of gastronomic excesses and emotion.
Why is December 25 so dangerous for heart health?
Several factors contribute to the increased risk of heart failure during the holiday season. The combination of high-