How to Boost Digestion & Detox After A Big Meal

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Go to beyondbloodwork.com to learn how to break free from cell danger response and make the effort pay off. Hey everyone, welcome to Dr. Josh Axe Show, where each and every week we explore the science and principles behind how to grow in body, mind, spirit, and take your health and your life to the next level. Today I'll be talking about how to do a holiday detox.

So many of us around the holidays, including Thanksgiving and Christmas, we overeat, we're underactive, we spend more time on screens, and because of it, we can make ourselves sick. And what happens is it can slow down your digestive system, put you at the risk of a cold and flu, and just make you not feel the best or cause disease to continue to grow in your body.

I want to go through how to truly detox heal, and amplify your health while you're going through the holidays. Before I dive in though, make sure to subscribe to the podcast and sign up for my weekly newsletter at the link in the show notes. Now, here's the reality.

Most Thanksgiving meals and other meals around Christmas tend to be high in fat, sugar, and refined carbohydrates, and they can put extra strain on your digestive system and your metabolism. Some studies show that high-fat meals increase sluggishness Post-meal by around 20% compared to meals with a moderate amount of fat.

So one of the things you gotta be careful of around the holidays is over-consuming both fat and carbs together because those are the things that will spike your blood sugar, causing you to feel bloated, tired, and overall cause you to pack on the pounds. Here are some things you can start to do to smooth out your digestive system and support digestion around the holidays.

The first is hydrate first. Before you eat your meal, around 30 minutes before, drink around 16 to 32 ounces of water. You know those Stanley Cups everybody's carrying around? Drink a whole one of those of water 30 minutes before your meal. A meta-analysis from Harvard found that people who drink water before meals have a 13% higher rate of digestion of food. Efficiency.

The second thing is to get more herbal tea. So before and after the meal, consume herbal tea, specifically ginger, peppermint, and fennel. One study found a meta-analysis on ginger was found to speed up gastric emptying by around 12%, helping food move through the stomach faster.

In another study, peppermint was shown to have antispasmodic effects, which increases the relaxation of the digestive system, which can ease stomach emptying. And again, a few others. Chamomile, fennel, galangal, turmeric, these also support digestive health. Cardamom, caraway, these are all good for digestion. Now, here are a few other things you can do. Chew more slowly, okay?

Studies show that people who chew each bite about 15 to 20 times have improved digestion, absorbing more nutrients and experiencing fewer digestive systems. Now, one way to do this is around a family holiday like Thanksgiving, Sit there and chew and take your time and have conversations during the meal and be chewing during the conversation is one thing that can actually be very helpful.

A 2015 study from Japan revealed that people who chewed more had a 10 to 15% higher nutrient absorption rate. So think about this: if you're absorbing 15% more nutrients, you're getting a lot more out of your food. And so again. Taking time in your meal, connect with family, have conversations. Let your meal take an hour, not 5 minutes, okay? Don't race through your meal.

Instead, really take your time when you're eating around the holidays and chew a lot. That's been shown to dramatically improve your digestion. Now, here are a few foods that also support digestion around the holidays. One are fermented foods, sauerkraut, kimchi, doing yogurt. You know, you can do sides of these. As well around the holidays.

So maybe you go and you get a big thing of turkey and you get a little stuffing and a little bit of cranberry and a little bit of sweet potato. Put a little side of sauerkraut on that plate as well to support the digestion of those foods. And also getting more fiber-rich foods.

Maybe encourage your family around the holiday to do more cranberries, to do more broccoli, Brussels sprouts, green beans. Some of these fiber-rich foods are also gonna support your digestive system around the holidays. And then I would say this, have a little bit of portion control, okay?

Go in with the mind of, I'm going to have this plate, this is how much I'm going to have on there, and sort of predetermine how much you're going to eat going in. Going back for the thirds and the fourths probably might be a little too much. Now listen, I'm okay with seconds, okay? It's a holiday, you want to indulge a little bit, but you don't want to just put yourself in a carb coma.

Now here's another Really, really amazing tip for supporting your metabolism before a meal. About 15 minutes before your meal, take 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and drink that in water, or do that 30 minutes post-meal. You can do it before or after.

Studies have shown— in fact, one study at Arizona State University showed that apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon, lowered post-meal blood sugar by around 34%. That's significant. And so doing a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in water, maybe that's— you put that tablespoon in your Stanley Cup, all right, and drink that before and after your meals around the holidays.

Now listen, there are other herbs that also have loads and loads of benefits for balancing your blood sugar around the holidays. One is berberine, another's chromium, another one is pumpkin pie spice. So maybe you get pumpkin pie and you sprinkle a little bit of extra cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice in the recipe or on top of it, that's also going to support your metabolism and energy as well.

And so for your metabolism and blood sugar, it's chromium, it's berberine, it's cinnamon, fenugreek, holy basil, magnesium, and vitamin D. Those are the foods that will have the best impact on your blood sugar, along with apple cider vinegar. And for your digestive health, to relieve gas and bloating or The feeling of fullness. You want to do herbal teas like ginger. You also can do chamomile.

You can do fennel. You can do peppermint. You can do cardamom. These are going to ease the digestive system. And one other thing I try and do the morning of, because I know I'm going to eat a lot for lunch and dinner on the holidays, is I just do protein. It's the only thing I do. I don't do carbs.

So it's kind of like intermittent fasting, not completely, but I'll tend to get about 30, 40 grams of protein or intermittent fast and not eat until lunch. So that's a So that's a really good time to do that. Just do protein or just do water or a beverage and don't do carbs or fat in the morning and just eat those 2 meals rather than 3 that day. That can also help.

Now, I want to also mention one of my favorite practices around the holidays for supporting metabolism and digestive health, and it is walking. Studies have shown that walking around 15 minutes to an hour supports digestion and immunity. And so much more. And so after your family has that big meal, before you lay down, okay, and go into that carb coma, go for a 20 to 30 minute walk.

Maybe before, the morning before, get a workout in, or go back in the backyard and throw the football back and forth with some family members. But get active. Last year I brought my— she was 3 years old then, now she's 4, but I brought her to a playground and we played for an hour and a half outside before we went And we did our Thanksgiving meal.

And then we went on a big family walk afterwards with everybody. Those are some great things to do around the holidays. And also around the holidays, something that can support your metabolism is doing hot and cold therapy. You could do a cold plunge. In fact, this is something we did with my dad sometimes growing up.

My dad would water ski on Thanksgiving morning and we would do a cold plunge growing up in Ohio. Or you could do that where you're at. You could do a cold plunge and hot tub back and forth if you have those around you. If not, just do a cold plunge and then some quick exercise in the morning. That can also sort of— it can be a fun family tradition.

Everybody cold plunge before eating pumpkin pie and turkey. Okay. So, but very, very good for your metabolism because your body has to warm itself up to rev up its metabolism. Now, it is good to— if you get your body too cold, it doesn't digest as well.

So you typically want to go on a walk or get— use like an infrared, like a blanket or get your body a little bit warm before the meal to actually support digestion. Digestion if you do cold plunge in the morning. And then finally, let's talk about doing a holiday detox. So you just had a big meal, you know you've got more coming up here around the holidays. Here's what I would suggest.

Number 1, do a little intermittent fasting. Now I still recommend eating breakfast, just eat it a little bit later. Maybe eat around 8 or 9 AM, you have lunch around noon, and then maybe eat an early dinner around 5. With that, load up on probiotics. Typically after big meals, you need to detox your digestive system. This is where probiotics and digestive enzymes can be incredible.

I'd recommend about 100 billion plus CFU of probiotics. This is also going to boost your immune system around the holidays and doing some digestive enzymes with your meals. But overall, my favorite is doing those high-dose probiotics around the holidays to cleanse your digestive system along with drinking herbal tea on a regular basis.

Even chai tea is a good example or just doing some ginger herbal tea. I'd also say, you know, for a few days go easy on the sweets, focus on Yeah. So, you know, drink a lot more soups, do a lot of bone broth, a lot of vegetables, a lot of berries to detoxify your body after going higher in carbs and higher in fat during the holidays.

And if you can do that, if you can simply— listen, enjoy yourself, enjoy the holidays, eat great food, but also consider going on a walk, doing some herbal tea, doing apple cider vinegar. You know, those are very easy things to do to support your immune health and digestive health around the holidays and detoxify your body.

And last but not least, Thanksgiving, Christmas, these are about gratitude, celebration. And with these easy tips, you can enjoy your meal while taking care of your body. Remember, hydrate, get lots of water, take walks, eat digestive-friendly foods and herbal teas and supplements. And if you do that, you're going to enjoy the holidays even more because you're going to do it in a healthy way.

I want to say thanks so much for tuning in to the Dr. Josh Axe Show, where each and every week we explore the science and principles behind how to grow in body, mind, and spirit and take your health and your life to the next level. Make sure to subscribe, like, and share, and I'll see you on the next episode.