Your LifeMinute Guide to Holiday Survival
Here's how to have the healthiest of holidays
From the LifeMinute Team
November 19, 2014
You know those cheerful greeting cards that are about to start piling up in your mailbox...the ones wishing you and your family a Happy and Healthy Holiday Season! Easier said than done, right? So we called in Dr. Taz, Integrative Health Expert and author of the book The 21-Day Belly Fix, to arm us with a seasonal survival guide to combatting those holiday health hazards.
Major Stress
Dr. Taz says the number one question she's asked this time of year is how do you deal with holiday stress? The doc explains, "You're meeting family, you're traveling, you're having to deal with gift-giving. You know, all kinds of different things that keep you highly stressed." Her solution? One of the oldest remedies out there: Epsom salts. Dr. Taz says, "It's been around forever, but soaking away in Epsom salts is a way to quickly and easily reduce your stress. There are a number of health benefits to Epsom Salts...[They] relax the nervous system, they soothe achy, stiff muscles; they will help you with lower back pain, and should you pull a muscle or sprain a muscle, we know that soaking in Epsom Salts will help with that as well." Dr. Taz likes the Dr. Teal's line because a lot of the Epsom Salt products are compounded with aromatherapy fragrances. "Lavender is one of my personal favorites," she says, "We know that lavender, for example, induces sleep; it promotes relaxation. Combine it with your Dr. Teal's Epsom Salts, and you have the solution to perfect relaxation. Take about two cups of the Epsom Salts, mix it in hot or warm water, and soak away your stress. Maybe soak for about twenty minutes at a time." And finding them is no stress at all: Dr. Teal's Epsom Salts are available at a lot of major retailers.
Colds & Flu
Number two is colds and flu: how do you get rid of it, how do you prevent it, how do you keep your family healthy? "Well, many of my patients come to me, and as they're fighting a cold or a flu virus, they also find out that they're breaking out in cold sores," says Dr. Taz, "No one wants to go to that holiday party with a cold sore." Dr. Taz likes the latest solution from Carmex Laboratories: the Carmex Cold Sore Treatment. She explains, "First of all, it will conceal it so you don't have to worry about that cold sore being too obvious. Secondly, it will help with the pain. It contains about a 10% Benzacaine topical ointment which will help you deal with the pain of a cold sore. And finally, it helps to treat it as well. The trick here, though; start early, keep this in your bag so that the minute you feel one coming on, you can get started and tackle that cold sore."
As for the cold itself... "Another must-have is...these new Cold-EEZE Cold Remedy Plus Natural Multi-Symptom Relief Cold & Flu QuickMelts that are formulated with zinc gluconate to shorten the duration of the cold," says Dr. Taz. The new QuickMelts also contain elderberry, peppermint and licorice to relieve cold and flu symptoms like cough, chest congestion and sore throat. The doctor adds, "They really work and taste yummy. So these are great products to have on hand when you're thinking cold and flu, for yourself or for your family."
Tummy Troubles
Finally, overindulging at holiday parties -- and the tumultuous tummy troubles that come along with it -- round out Dr. Taz's Top Three holiday health hazards. "You know, in my new book The 21-Day Belly Fix, we talk a ton about it," says Dr. Taz, "The digestive issues come up even more so in the holidays because we eat too much, we eat the wrong foods, we drink a little bit too much as well." Dr. Taz recommends Enzymedica's Digest Gold with probiotics and Acid Soothe; both products work to help you with digestion. "They contain digestive enzymes which we all naturally have, but sometimes don't have enough of, that help you to break your meal down, absorb the nutrients, increase your energy and help you to stay regular," she says, "Keep these on hand as you go to parties; you can take them before and after a meal, and hopefully your digestive issues will be a distant memory."
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