10 Tips to enjoy Christmas with Endometriosis! Without too much pain and bloating the following day.

It is only a week away and the Christmas carols are jingeling around in my head! It is always a fun time of year and this year is especially nice as my Mom and Sister are coming to visit me in New Zealand! It is a time to enjoy lavish meals, lots of wine and of course chocolate!

The only thing I dread is how I will feel the day after Christmas, because inevitably I have eaten too much, drank too much and generally done all the things that Endo just absolutely hates! It is totally unrealistic to think we won’t do the things that we enjoy over Christmas, however there are a few little tips we can use to make it a little less painful to deal with the days after.

It is especially hard if you are eating at family and to be honest, who wants to be “difficult” over Christmas? Without having to request too many things, you can still avoid being in too much pain the day after.

Here’s my suggestions to make it a little easier:

1. Drink plenty of Ginger Tea. Ideally, you want to make some yourself and take it with you – the one with ginger, cinnamon etc is great. If you don’t want to do that, just take a knob of ginger or some ginger powder. Just make a mug with a slice of ginger or ginger powder in it and drink that. Ginger helps with inflammation and aids digestion. If you drink plenty of ginger, especially on an empty stomach before you go or even while you are there, it will alleviate heaps of pressure and bloating.

2. Have red wine instead of white. Red wine contains less sulphites than white wine. Sulphites can cause severe pain and allergic reactions for us. Read more about sulphites here. Red wine also thins the blood and will just be easier for you to cope with. Ideally, try and avoid having wine on an empty stomach and have it with your meal instead.

3. Out of all the sweets and treats, aim for chocolate over candies or biscuits. Biscuits are made with flour, which means gluten and that is always gonna make you bloated. Though chocolate is not the best for us, it is still your better choice – if you really want something sweet. Candies contain gelatin, flours and a whole bunch of numbers. I find it almost impossible to avoid chocolate over christmas! It is just about everywhere and they are generally in small little quantities – making it somehow okay to eat a whole bunch …..in little bits!

4. Avoid combining carbohydrates with meat/ turkey. It is harder for your body to digest rice with turkey or potatoes with meat. It is the protein and carb combination which the body struggles with. One is alkaline and one is acidic. Have you ever noticed how much more tired you feel when you combine these two? Try and eat just the turkey and salads (not potatoes) or just the rice and vegies. This will avoid that over tired and bloated feeling.

5. If you have a choice in the main course, aim for turkey over ham. Ham is smoked and cured, which means it has generally got sodium nitrate and other preserving ingredients in it. I always find I struggle to digest ham and it makes my tummy hurt! It may be different where you live and you might get better methods in curing or smoking ham but I generally find Turkey easier on the stomach anyways.

6. Eat heaps of fruit before your main meal. Alternatively, have a salad before the main course. If you can drink a freshly squeezed juice, this is even better. What you are doing here, is supplying the stomach with all the necessary enzymes it needs to break down the main course food you are about to eat. If you can, have a juice with parsley or green stuff in it – your liver will love you for it!

7. Eat slowly and try not to overeat. I know this is really hard because it is almost a tradition to stuff yourself at Christmas! Just think of your poor liver though!

8. Try and wait a few hours to have dessert – ideally more than 2 if you can . This way, your body can process the main course first and then deal with the dessert on a separate production line! I try and only have ice-cream for dessert – when there is little choice! It avoids having gluten, which I find worse for me than dairy. Still not great but it is okay!

9. Have a teaspoon with Bicarbonate of Soda in water, before going to bed. You want to be waiting at least 2hrs before having this, so I usually have it just before going to bed, assuming I have finished eating at about 9pm. Bicarbonate of Soda will counteract the alcohol and acidity of it all. It dulls the acidity of your whole meal too

10. Have a pure fruit breakfast the following morning. Trust me, your liver will be aching for it! I know it is probably traditional to have another big breakfast with eggs but if you can get out of it, I would! A pure fruit salad with some mint leaves with some flax seed oil poured over the top, will do so much more for you and the inflammatory response of endo. If you must eat the eggs, try go for eggs without bread – boiled or omelette is good.

I know it is not easy having Christmas lunch when you are invited to family or you feel obligated to eating everything that is served on your plate, without seeming like a difficult, picky and spoilt brat requesting half of it being cut out! You may be lucky and your family have considered your special Endo diet or you are celebrating Christmas at home. I know for me, this year we are sharing a Christmas lunch between all the family, which means heaps of chocolate, wine and dessert! It is yum but I also want to make sure I am still enjoyable to be around the days that follow

What are your tips that you have found, that alleviate inflammation and feeling sore days after Christmas?