Tips to Keep Your Gut Happy Through the Holidays

November 18, 2022

As we head into the holiday season, there’s a certain excitement in the air — soon we’ll be getting together with friends and family, and indulging in the festive foods that we look forward to all year long! The holidays are the perfect time to enjoy your favorite sweets and savories, and — I don’t know about you — it’s easy to go a little overboard on the holiday goodies.

Dr. Morrison suggests proactively taking care of your gut health during this time, so you can feel your best throughout the holidays! To help you keep a healthy and balanced gut AND still enjoy all your favorite holiday foods and drink — here are Dr. Morrison’s tips to help you stay on track with your healthy lifestyle during the holiday season and into the new year!

What supplements help support gut health and how are they helpful?

• Benezyme
• Ox Bile
• Essential Formula
• Activated Charcoal
• Digest Forte**

             Benezyme  

1 to 2 capsules before meals (1 for small meals and 2 for larger meals): to help digestion of protein, fats and carbohydrates.

Benezyme is a mix of Pancreatic enzymes which are essential for the digestion of protein, fats and carbohydrates. Dr. Morrison suggests taking this when you’re concerned that your daily stress levels are affecting your digestion… It's also ideal to take during seasons of increased holiday activities.

  

Bile acids are essential for proper digestion of fats and fat soluble vitamins (ie - Vitamin A, E, D, K). When you feel incredibly stuffed after enjoying a rich meal, sometimes containing animal protein, butter, dairy, or even cooking oils, this can be a sign of insufficient bile acid production. Ox Bile can help improve digestion and absorption of fatty meals and fat soluble vitamins. 

 

Take 2 capsules daily or 2 capsules in the morning & night: to help maintain regular digestive function or help with an irritated stomach.

Dr. Ohhira's Essential formula is a unique Prebiotic and Probiotic formula. This can be used for maintaining happy and regular digestive function by just taking 2 capsules daily. It can also be taken to settle an irritated stomach by chewing 2 capsules in the morning and night. This probiotic does not need to be refrigerated, so it's ideal for folks to take with them when traveling.

 

Dr. Morrison believes this is something everyone should have in their medicine cabinet. Activated charcoal is often used to treat a drug overdose or poison exposure, since it has the ability to  bind to these chemicals in the digestive tract. It can also be used when someone has overindulged in alcohol or by overeating, which can lead to having an upset stomach, bloated, and foggy head. Dr. Morrison stresses to use this sparingly, since it can also remove nutrients and prescription medications from your body. 

 

Suggested to take 1 tablet before breakfast or lunch and before dinner: to improve our bodies’ ability to digest meals that are high in protein.
Dr. Morrison highly suggests taking this, because it enhances the production of digestive enzymes and stimulates the stomach to produce more of its beneficial mucus lining. This means, it can improve our bodies ability to digest meals that are high in protein and repair our stomach from over indulgence. 

(**Digest Forte is available online for TMC’s patients only. If you are not a TMC patient and interested in learning more about it, please call TMC office at 212-989-9828)  

 

Check out our Thanksgiving Strategies for a Happier, Healthier Holiday for tips on how to fully enjoy your Thanksgiving celebration with your loved ones and keep your healthy lifestyle on track! Not to give away the punchline… it does involve eating your vegetables!  

The holidays are also prime cold and flu season, so Dr. Morrison highly suggests to Stock Up for Cold & Flu Season with what you’ll need to keep you and your loved ones healthy. By planning ahead now, you can be confident that you’ll have exactly what you need in your medicine cabinet, to quickly take care of a sore throat or cold and flu symptoms!

The holidays come around once a year — celebrate to the fullest, while maintaining the healthy lifestyle you have worked so hard to achieve through the year!

Wishing a safe and healthy holiday season, to you and your family!

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.