With the holiday season fast approaching, many of us will be indulging more than usual and stepping out of our regular routines. This isn’t a bad thing; it’s important to engage in social events and partake in holiday festivities without restriction or fear of how you’ll feel the next day! That being said, there are ways we can prepare ourselves physically to ensure we don’t end up with the ‘Holiday Food Hangover’!

1. Drink LOTS of water!

Before, during, and after these gatherings, make sure you’re drinking plenty of water. Water is key to keeping us hydrated, but it also is an integral part of digestion, helping things move along more easily.

2. Don’t skip meals!

Just because later that night you’ll be indulging in food and drink in larger quantities than you usually would is not a good reason to skip breakfast that morning. Indulging ≠ Skipping meals. Keep to your regular routine as you usually would, and don’t make yourself feel guilty after enjoying yourself with family and friends.

3. Mix in some vegetables.

Holiday eating is often rich in foods that taste amazing but may have low nutritional value. If there’s a salad on the table, take some! Or try mixing in greens with your meals/snacks around these holiday events to make sure your body is getting the nutrients it needs.

4. Support your gut with probiotics!

Our microbiomes are delicate systems that can be imbalanced by many different factors, including the environment, diet, stress, and even a slight change in routine! If you’re out of routine and eating differently, your gut bacteria may need some extra support, and a daily probiotic is the perfect way to help!

But what probiotic is best for you?

Probiotics can be a confusing product to shop for. With long bacteria strain names and numbers that mean what? How do you know what is best in a category where each brand claims to be the best for different reasons? We’ll break it down for you here.

What are probiotics? Probiotics are live bacteria that promote gut health. Whether you take probiotics or not, your gut has trillions of microbes, and everyone’s composition is unique to them depending on a multitude of factors. Everyone could use a probiotic since there are so many factors that impact the composition of our gut; there are also many factors that can impact the balance of good to bad bacteria we have. If we go through a period of mental stress, get sick, or even have a major life change like switching jobs or moving, our microbiome can become unbalanced! This is why everyone should take a probiotic daily.

Some important things to consider when choosing a probiotic are:

• Diversity: Choose a probiotic with multiple different strains. Our gut thrives when there’s diversity since different bacteria do different things!
• Packaging: Look for blister packs. This packaging has each capsule packaged individually, keeping each capsule’s environment stable all the way to consumption, unlike a bottle.
• NPN: Make sure to purchase products that have NPNs; this ensures the product is safe and efficacious as it is approved by Health Canada.

Genuine Health’s Advanced Gut Health Immune is the perfect answer to ensuring your gut and your immune health are at their peak during the holiday season! AGH Immune has 15 diverse strains, including Lactobacillus paracasei 8700:2 and Lactobacillus plantarum HEAL9. These two strains have been studied for their effectiveness in supporting the immune system! There is also added Vitamin D3 and Zinc to protect you and reduce sick days! All Genuine Health’s probiotics are manufactured and packaged in one facility to ensure that strains remain moisture and temperature controlled, and they’re packaged in blister packs so that each capsule has a guaranteed shelf life right up to consumption! Head into the holiday season without worrying about how you’ll feel by supporting yourself with Advanced Gut Health Immune.

About the Author: Genuine Health Team

Genuine Health is a Canadian company that makes all natural, non-GMO supplements and is one of the original vendors to partner with HFN back in 1999. Genuine Health has a history of firsts, including: First superfood formula and first to launch a superfood designed for the gut, First with fermented supplements and the first complete fermented protein, and the First natural health supplement company to become a B Corporation worldwide.