Link Nutrition's health hacks for the festive period

We all know that when December strikes, the party season is in full swing, which although is great fun, it can often leave most of us completely exhausted and forgetting which day of the week it is. You’ll be pleased to know that you can have fun, say ‘yes’ to everything and still feel great. Here at Link Nutrition, we’ve made it our mission, to make you feel amazing this party season.

Firstly, the biggest priority at this time of the year should be enjoyment, after all, it is the season to be joyful! We have devised what we like to call a ‘party season survival guide’, to keep you firing on all cylinders this December. So with that in mind, have a read and be prepared to feel better than ever this party season! 

Feeling energised and active when you’re super busy can often boil down to how you start your day. The endless festive celebrations and being out later than usual can mean that your usual routine is thrown off, but that doesn’t mean the whole day has to crumble. When you get up, make sure you have a good breakfast. The key to this is planning, planning, planning! 

Controlling what you have for breakfast means that you are well fuelled for the day, giving your body essential nutrients that will help you feel great. Starting the day with a protein-packed breakfast helps to regulate blood glucose levels, keep satiety hormones in check and keep you full until lunchtime. Keep your eyes peeled for some delicious breakfast ideas coming your way across our social channels throughout December!

Staying hydrated is so important, especially when we might be drinking more alcohol and eating possibly more sugars than we usually would. The primary symptoms of the dreaded hangover are actually dehydration and believe it or not how you feel on a hangover depends on how well you’ve prepared your body for it in the first place! When we are dehydrated we certainly don’t feel our best, so by drinking plenty of fluids in the day before a party, can really help to combat this. Drinking water in between alcoholic drinks is also a great way to minimise the damage the next day - it does wonders!

Enjoying an alcoholic drink or two whilst celebrating during the festive season is part of the fun for many, it’s important to have a great time amongst friends and family but certain drinks can help you to feel better the following day. Avoiding bubbles in champagne or beer, not mixing drinks and sticking to clear spirits with a low sugar mixer will help to lessen the blow. 

Typically during the party season we’re busy and most of us have less time for rest. Drinking alcohol has an impact on our sleep, affecting the quality and sometimes duration; which can put extra pressure on our immune system. So the best way to combat that is to keep your vitamin C levels topped up. The easiest way to get in the extra is by supplementing with our Food Based Vitamin C & Bioflavonoids.

Vitamin C is a potent antioxidant which helps to support our immune defence and it could be your secret weapon this party season! One way that vitamin C boosts immunity is by supporting the cells lining our intestinal microbiota against. This barrier is essential for stopping invading pathogens and free radicals (the scientific name for nasties!). It’s important to make sure that we’re all getting enough vitamin C throughout the festive season, particularly when our immune systems could be a little weaker. As we’ve already said how we feel the morning after often boils down to how well we’ve prepared our body - trust us!  

Perhaps this may come as a surprise but getting plenty of exercise after a big night out can really help you to feel better. We know that exercise has countless benefits to our health, but working up a sweat is one of our favourite hangover cures. Exercise helps to increase blood flow and boost mood while sweating out some of those nasties from the night before. If you can’t face any cardio (we’ve all been there!), yoga is the perfect solution, or even a 20-30 minute power-walk. Anything is better than nothing!

It’s all too easy to snack on naughty treats when we are we are tired or hungover. There is actually good reason for this, and it’s because when we drink alcohol it can cause blood glucose levels to spike then fall quickly which throws our satiety hormones out of sync. One way to combat this is with sensible snacking. This can help bring blood glucose back into balance, which will help make us feel much better. Our sensible snacking go-to’s are: 

• Nuts 
• Seeds
• Fruits
• Veggies and hummus
• Dark chocolate (a great source of magnesium and perfect if you fancy something sweeter) 

Consuming a protein source with fruits will give you an added energy boost, but without spiking your blood sugar levels. For example a handful of nuts with your banana. 

The phrase ‘feel good from within’ couldn’t be more relevant and supporting gut health might just be the most important health hack of them all. Our Synbiotic 7 is always at arms reach and the festive season this is no exception! Formulated with a mixture of prebiotics and 7 of the best bacterial strains known to support your gut microbiome, our Synbiotic 7 may just be the answer to the best December ever! 

Whilst we know that these tips will have you feeling fabulous throughout the festivities, here at Link Nutrition HQ we believe that the most important part of it all is remembering to have fun! Incorporating come of our top tips from our ‘party survival guide’ will have you waving goodbye to the post-December slump and have you heading into 2020 the best you’ve ever felt, so why not give them a go?!