Keep Your Digestion Humming Through the Holidays
The holiday season is delicious, but the abundance of treats, festive meals, and indulgent gatherings can leave us feeling sluggish, bloated, and heavy. In Chinese medicine, we call this food stagnation, and it happens any time our digestive system is overwhelmed.
Lots of habits can contribute to the discomforts of food stagnation. As you read through this list, notice if anything stands out for you. Is it part of your everyday life, or a part of your life just during the holidays?
Eating too much at one sitting
Eating too late in the day (in Chinese medicine we prefer all food finished by 7pm, or at least 2 hours before bed — whichever is earlier)
Eating at irregular or unpredictable times, without any steady routine
Combining foods that don’t digest well together (a more nuanced topic than we’ll cover here!)
Eating too many different types of food in one sitting — very common at holiday spreads and potlucks
Eating to soothe emotions or calm stress
Eating while actively upset or in a strong emotional state of any kind
Eating while driving, reading, writing, or working - In Chinese medicine, the energy required to digest food is the same energy we use to “digest” information. Attempting to do both at once means neither happens efficiently or effectively.
Eating in the absence of an empty stomach, ie before your previous meal has fully digested
“Grazing” for all or most of the day, or habitual snacking
Chronically undereating vegetables or foods that help digestion move downward (again, we’ll cover the directionality of food another time!)
Eating meals that are simply too difficult for your current digestive strength to process well
With so many contributing factors, you can see how food stagnation can show up at any time — not just during the holidays.
In fact, many people I work with in the clinic are struggling with the side effects of chronic food stagnation without realizing it. It’s really common for the average American digestive system to be consistently overworked in some ways (and underworked in others) by the (very common) habits listed above.
And when our digestion is compromised, our whole body feels it. (For example, I think most of us can agree that pooping or not pooping can often make or break a day?)
So, if you want to support yourself and your digestion a little differently this holiday season than is typical for you, here’s an invitation:
Review the list above.
Notice what stands out to you.
Is there one thing — just one — that you feel is possible for you to shift?
Maybe it's giving yourself permission to not eat lunch at your desk.
Maybe it's deciding that yes, you’ll enjoy treats, and you’ll also make sure to eat vegetables at every meal.
Whatever it is, try it on for a couple of weeks, consistently, and see how it feels. Pay attention, and let me know how it goes. Sometimes surprisingly small changes can create big shifts in digestive ease.
Stay tuned for next week’s continuation…✅ Want to go deeper? Watch the full video version here.
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