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Why The Holidays Are So Unhealthy (And 4 Health Tips to Change It)
Will you be decorating one of the 30 million Christmas trees in America this year?
Picking out the perfect tree for the living room is a time-honored family tradition. After tying the tree to the top of your car, and driving it home, you’re ready to start decorating. Shiny glass ornaments, strings of lights, and candy canes dangle from every piney branch.
All that’s left is to place the star on the top of the tree. Standing on top of the step stool, with the star in your hand, your foot slips. Before you know what’s happening, you’re laying on the ground, waiting for 911 to arrive.
Injuries, sickness, and stress can all make the holiday’s a lot less joyful. You can prevent your festivities from turning into a disaster by learning about the different holiday hazards. Read on to discover what to look out for this season, and 4 health tips that can keep you safe.
1. Food Health Tips
Delicious treats and snacks are waiting for you around every corner during the holidays. It’s almost impossible to avoid all of the sugary temptations. Indulging with your favorite dish or dessert can be a part of your holiday routine, but it doesn’t have to be your entire plan.
On average women need about 2,000 calories every day, while men need around 2,500. Your age, height, weight, and lifestyle will all play a part in determining how many calories you need.
Do you know how many calories you should be consuming on a daily basis? You can use an online calorie calculator to find your specific caloric intake number.
Pay special attention to items with hidden sugars. Foods like dried fruit, seeded whole grain bread, condiments and creamers all contain sugar.
2. Holiday Drinking Tips for Staying Healthy
Are you planning on filling your cup up with some holiday cheer this Christmas? Drinking alcohol has become a favorite holiday past time for many households. Our countries passion for drinking is evident with the invention of Eggnog, hot rum, and festive holiday cocktails.
You may have heard the phrase, “moderate drinking“, used to describe the safe way to consume alcohol. Yet, what does moderately really mean?
Here’s a breakdown of how you can define moderate drinking:
- Woman of any age: 1 drink a day
- Men 65 years old and younger: 2 drinks a day
A lot of people drink more frequently during the holidays because of all the different events and parties. If you don’t normally drink, you might have a low alcohol tolerance. Even if you only plan on having 1 drink, you need to have a designated driver picked out before the party begins.
If you feel like you’re done drinking, just say no to any further offers of alcohol. Don’t give into any mental or social pressures you may feel pushing you to have another. You don’t have to drink to enjoy any occasion.
Once you feel you met your limit, start drinking water. Your body will thank you for the next day when you don’t wake up with a hangover. Alcohol dehydrates you and can cause you to have headaches or body pains the next day.
3. Cold and Flu Season
Unfortunately, people give a lot more than just presents during the holidays. Colds, flu, and other sicknesses run high during the holiday season.
Here are a few ways that the flu can spread.
Mistletoe Moments
The first kind of contact is direct contact through the form of kissing. The second kind of contact occurs when you touch someone with the virus and then touch your mouth, nose or eyes. For example, if you shook hands with someone who was sick, and then you scratched your nose.
Sneezing and Coughing
If you see someone sneezing, you might want to go in the other direction. Tiny respiratory droplets can shoot out as far as 3-6 feet when someone’s coughing or sneezing. If the droplets enter your eyes, nose or mouth, you might be on your way to getting sick.
Contagious timeline
An adult who has the flu can contaminate other individuals one day before getting symptoms. They can continue to spread their germs during the first week of their sickness. This means that you can give someone the flu before you even know you have it. You can also give someone the flu, once you thought you were over it.
Instead of living in fear of getting sick, take a few precautions to promote your health. Start by washing your hands every single time before you eat. Next, avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth as much as possible.
4. Christmas Decorations
Will you be playing the role of Santa and elf this year? Christmas time brings with it a very long to-do list. Putting up Christmas decorations can present a number of hazards for children and adults. Here are a few of the hazards you’ll want to look out for:
- Broken glass from ornaments
- Falling from ladder
- Fire from candles
- Decorations falling down
Lacerations, falls, and fires happen every year during holiday decorating times. Another health concern you’ll face is over-exertion. Spending time hanging up lights or decorating your tree, can stress out your body and cause painful inflammation.
To avoid taking pain medications, you could start using a Tens unit. The Tens unit will use a low voltage electrical current to safely reduce your pain levels. You can put it on whatever part of your body you have discomfort in.
Make Health a Priority
So far our health tips have dealt with things you can see. However, some hazards, like stress, are invisible.
The moment you start to stress out, your muscles will tense up to help protect you from any injury or pain. Chronic stress can cause your muscles to constantly be in a tense state. When your muscles stay tight for a long period of time, other stress-related disorders can develop.
You might start to experience tension headaches or painful sensation in your neck and shoulders. Chiropractic adjustments are a powerful way to help your body reduce stress and remove tension.
Elite Spine and Health Center wants to help you reach all of your health goals. Our chiropractic treatments produce incredible results without drugs, injections or surgery. Did you know that a chiropractic adjustment can reduce pain and improve your entire nervous system?
We are on a mission to people enjoy active, healthy lives that are free of pain. Reach out to us today using our contact us page. One of our team members will be happy to speak with you and schedule your appointment.
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