With the holiday season just around the corner, it’s time for gifts, festive moments, and... endless feasts! Between roasted turkey with chestnuts, champagne, hors d’oeuvres, and ice cream Yule logs, managing this period can be challenging—especially when it all repeats a week later for New Year’s Eve.
This time, be prepared! This article will provide all the tips you need to ensure your holiday meals don’t disrupt your healthy habits. And don’t worry—we’ve kept the fun intact!
1 Day Before the Holiday Feast
Give your digestive system a break with a monodiet. Rest your digestion by eating only one type of food at every meal of the day. Choose a plant-based food, like a fruit or vegetable such as apples, grapes, cabbage, or even vegetable juice. Ensure they are from organic agriculture to avoid pesticides as much as possible. Apples are a favorite for monodiets due to their versatility: eat them raw, baked, as applesauce, or grated.
Practical Tip:
The night before starting the monodiet, have a light dinner rich in vegetables. On the monodiet day, eat the chosen food to your satisfaction during each main meal. If your chosen food is sweet, consume a small portion (e.g., an apple slice) every 1.5 hours to avoid hypoglycemia.
The Day of the Feast: Before the Meal
15–20 minutes before the meal, take 4–6 capsules of digestive enzymes to help with digestion. The bromelain they contain helps pre-digest proteins. Think of enzymes as tiny scissors that pre-cut food into smaller pieces, easing digestion. Proper digestion depends on high enzymatic activity! Plus, bromelain remains active even after passing through the stomach’s acidity.
Alternatively, spend 5 minutes practicing coherent breathing. This simple yet powerful stress-management tool aligns your heart and respiratory systems, rebalancing your nervous system and activating the parasympathetic side responsible for digestion. Remember: a stressed body cannot digest properly!
Practical Tip:
Inhale deeply for 5 seconds, then exhale for 5 seconds without holding your breath. Repeat this cycle 6 times for 5 minutes. Bonus: practice it 3 times a day for at least 3 weeks leading up to the holidays. Free apps are also available to guide you.
The Day of the Feast: During the Appetizer
Digestion starts in the mouth! Chewing properly helps your body process food more efficiently. The more you break food down, the less work your body will have to do, and the lighter your digestion will feel.
Skip hors d’oeuvres and go for dips like hummus or tapenades paired with vegetables. Eating veggies at the start of a meal can help counteract the glycemic impact of the rest of the plate and minimize issues related to blood sugar spikes.
The Day of the Feast: During the Meal
Starter
Always include raw vegetables or a green salad. Raw foods promote enzyme production essential for digestion and provide fibers.
If you want to include animal proteins, replace fatty options like salmon or foie gras with seafood or scallops, which are less fatty and rich in key nutrients.
Consider trying vegetable carpaccios for a light and fresh start.
Main Course
Limit meat consumption as animal proteins are among the hardest to digest. Holiday meats are often fatty (turkey, goose, salmon) and stuffed, making them even more taxing on the digestive system. They are also acidifying, adding stress to the body and delaying recovery from festive meals.
Pair the dish with vegetables and easy-to-digest carbs like chestnuts, squash, or sweet potatoes. These are gentle on digestion, provide fiber, and help neutralize the effects of meat.
Avoid sweet-and-savory combinations, as they can burden digestion and cause bloating—especially since dessert is next!
Dessert
Take a long digestive break—the perfect time to open presents!
This gives your body time to process the appetizer/main course combo before tackling the sweet foods.
Avoid ice cream Yule logs, as frozen fats are particularly difficult to digest. Instead, choose vegan desserts, which are lighter, or offer a fresh fruit salad.
A Balanced Holiday Menu Example:
- Starter: Scallops with chestnut cream
- Main Course: Caramelized tofu with Brussels sprouts, pecans, and cranberries
- Dessert: Vegan, gluten-free Yule log
- Drink: Kefir mocktail
And What About Drinks?
While the best drink is non-alcoholic, we understand the desire to indulge. If so, choose red wine for its antioxidants or extra brut champagne, which is lower in sugar. Keep it organic and limit yourself to two glasses if possible.
Explore the many alcohol-free alternatives available today!
Anti-Hangover Tips:
- Alternate every alcoholic drink with a glass of water.
- Never drink on an empty stomach; food slows alcohol absorption.
- Avoid dark liquors, which contain methanol that worsens hangover symptoms.
- Take 4 capsules of activated charcoal before and after drinking.
- Consume 4–5 g of chlorella before alcohol.
- 1 g of liposomal vitamin C the afternoon before drinking, after the party, and the next day.
- Stay hydrated the next day with water, coconut water, fresh juices, or herbal teas (ginger, peppermint, rosemary).
Post-Holiday Detox
At Kazidomi, we believe in balance and enjoyment—celebrate the holidays guilt-free, but take time to reset with small health habits afterward.
Morning Detox
If you feel bloated, try intermittent fasting by skipping breakfast to let your digestive system recover. Avoid fasting for an entire day if you’re hungry—this can lead to headaches, nausea, or skin breakouts.
If you’re hungry, go for a light, balanced breakfast like a spirulina detox smoothie, a gluten-free bowl cake, or a matcha chia pudding.
Stay Hydrated
Especially after consuming alcohol, hydration is key. Opt for homemade green juices, detox water, or lemon water (avoid heating it to preserve vitamin C). If you’re cold, go for herbal teas like ginger, mint, rosemary, boldo, or basil. Choose magnesium-rich mineral water.
Simplify Your Meals
Emphasize raw vegetables if tolerated, drizzled with omega-3-rich oils like camelina, hemp, or olive oil.
Eat foods that support the liver: black radish, beetroot, lemon, turmeric, and artichokes. For protein, choose plant-based options like tofu or legumes.
Prepare a broth or **season
al vegetable soup** with ingredients like carrots, leeks, cabbage, onions, garlic, celery, and spices like turmeric or ginger.
Avoid junk food like coffee, pasta, or burgers—these are a false remedy!
Load up on foods that cleanse the liver: black radish, beetroot, lemon, turmeric, and artichoke. If you still want a source of protein, prioritize plant-based options such as tofu or legumes rich in protein. This type of diet will help you consume plenty of fiber and regulate your digestion. You can prepare a broth or soup using seasonal vegetables with varied colors to diversify your intake of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants (carrots, leeks, cabbage, onions, garlic, shallots, turnips, celery, artichokes, etc.), while adding spices and aromatics (turmeric, ginger, dill, fennel, basil, mint, nettle, for example).
In any case, avoid “junk” foods that may seem tempting but turn out to be a bad idea: coffee, pasta dishes, burgers. We don’t cure harm with harm!
Relieve your emunctories—your elimination organs
Place a hot water bottle over your liver. The liver is an organ that works with warmth, and supporting it this way will make it more efficient.
Beyond diet, make sure to move to activate your emunctories (elimination organs): cycling, forest walks, swimming... Get your body to sweat to better eliminate toxins, and ideally get a good breath of fresh air in nature. You could also book a sauna session with your loved ones.
Don't forget to enjoy the holidays!
Lucile, Kazidomi Health Coach
FAQ: How to Manage Excesses During the Holiday Season?
1. Can I do a monodiet before the holidays if I’m pregnant or have health issues?
It’s recommended to consult your doctor before starting a monodiet, especially if you’re pregnant or have specific health concerns. Monodiets may not be suitable for everyone, so seeking professional advice is important.
2. How long before the meal should I take my digestive enzyme capsules?
Digestive enzyme capsules should be taken about 15 to 20 minutes before the meal. They help prepare your digestive system and improve food digestion.
3. Why is cardiac coherence beneficial for digestion?
Cardiac coherence helps reduce stress and activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for rest and digestion functions. This allows your body to digest more effectively by reducing tension and promoting smoother digestion.
4. Is it possible to take a digestive break during the holiday meal?
Yes, taking a digestive break during the meal is an excellent idea to allow your digestive system to recover before moving on to the next course. Use this time to chat and enjoy the conviviality, which will also aid your digestion.
5. What foods should I prioritize after the holidays to recover?
After the holidays, opt for a light and detoxifying diet with fiber-rich vegetables, fresh fruits, detox teas, and plenty of hydration. Vegetable broths, light soups, and detox smoothies are perfect for soothing your digestive system.
6. Can I drink wine or alcohol without worsening digestion during the holidays?
If you choose to drink alcohol during the holidays, go for red wine or brut champagne, as they contain less sugar. It’s also important to drink plenty of water between glasses to prevent dehydration and reduce the effects of alcohol.
