But if you have health goals in mind, a heavy meal like the Thanksgiving feast can bring up conflicting feelings.
Advertisement Continue watching 10 Interesting Facts About Earth’s Oceans “The foods we eat on Thanksgiving tend to be fried, fatty or processed.
How fatty Thanksgiving foods can affect your heart.
That said, Heffron emphasized that for the vast majority of people, what you eat during Thanksgiving isn’t going to do any long-term damage to your heart.
However, Yost did add that one day of irregularly eating can impact people with chronic health conditions.
Thanksgiving is a unique occasion because many of the foods on the table are only eaten during this meal, and you get to eat them all at once! However, if you’re trying to reach health goals, a heavy meal like the Thanksgiving feast may cause conflicting emotions.
For example, if your doctor has advised you to reduce saturated fat because your cholesterol is high, will eating turkey and macaroni and cheese really affect your heart? Similarly, if you’re trying to lose weight in a healthy way, will skipping one meal’s calorie count ruin all the hard work you’ve done to keep your daily calorie deficit small?
We questioned a bariatric surgeon, gastroenterologist, cardiologist, and registered dietitian about the actual health risks of overindulging during Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving’s effects on gut health.
Roto-Rooter, the nation’s largest plumbing service provider, says that the day after Thanksgiving is the busiest day for plumbers. This is a fun fact that you probably shouldn’t share over the holiday table. Thanksgiving has the potential to seriously damage the digestive system, which is obviously a number two.
Go on viewing.
Ten fascinating facts about the oceans on Earth.
“We usually eat fried, fatty, or processed foods on Thanksgiving. And there’s the sheer volume of food that people consume. Bloating, constipation, or diarrhea may result from all of this, according to gastroenterologist Dr. Andrew Boxer of Gastroenterology Associates of New Jersey. He suggests eating more slowly and in smaller portions, as well as avoiding foods high in fiber, such as cauliflower or Brussels sprouts, to help you avoid any post-meal problems. However, according to Boxer, alcohol is one of the Thanksgiving table staples that has the biggest effect on the stomach.
“Thanksgiving starts a whole season of binge drinking, and from this time of year until spring, individuals who are not alcoholics are visiting hospitals with potentially fatal acute alcoholic pancreatitis or alcoholic hepatitis, and more people are coming in with alcoholic liver disease,” he said.
However, Boxer said that eating habits during this one meal won’t affect the gut as long as alcohol intake is kept moderate. Sure, you might experience some uncomfortable stomach problems in the short term, but according to Boxer, if you don’t repeat the size of your feast every day with leftovers, your digestive system will return to normal in a few days.
How Thanksgiving foods high in fat can impact your heart.
In the United States, heart disease is the leading cause of death. S. . a disease that is mostly avoidable with proper diet and lifestyle choices. Therefore, it’s crucial to heed your doctor’s advice if they advise you to limit foods high in saturated fat or sodium because you’re at risk.
But can we all have a free pass for Thanksgiving and eat our mashed potatoes with as much butter and salt as we like?
The good news is that Dr. Sean P. Even if a single meal consists of a lot of unhealthy foods, it is extremely unlikely to have a detrimental effect on long-term heart health, according to Heffron, a cardiologist at NYU Langone Health. There’s a catch. According to Heffron, overindulging in foods high in saturated fat, sodium, or sugar on Thanksgiving may be harmful and cause heart failure in people with congestive heart failure, hypertriglyceridemia (a condition in which blood fat levels are elevated), brittle diabetes (a condition that is difficult to control), or high sensitivity to fluid balance (which eating a lot of salty foods can affect), among others. Heffron also cautioned against consuming too much alcohol on Thanksgiving, as this can cause irregular heartbeats, just like Boxer did.
However, Heffron stressed that Thanksgiving food won’t cause long-term heart problems for the great majority of people. He went on to say that the health benefits of sharing a festive meal with friends make it worthwhile to consider. “The meal’s main purpose is to celebrate and be social, both of which are good for your health,” he stated. According to his point, social relationships lower the risk of heart failure, which is one reason to be especially grateful for the people you’re spending your holiday meal with this year.
How Thanksgiving may affect your attempts to lose weight.
Sitting down at the Thanksgiving table can cause anxiety for anyone attempting to lose weight in a healthy way. Clients of registered dietitian Evelyn Tribole have a range of health objectives, many of which include weight loss. She told everyone to enjoy their meal. “Pay attention to the enjoyment of the meal and the time spent with your loved ones. Your health goals won’t be made or broken by a single meal unless you have a serious illness, she said.
Perhaps you’ve been following such rigid eating guidelines for so long that you’ve forgotten what it’s like to eat without restrictions. Focus on what you want to eat and how eating the various foods makes your body feel, according to Tribole, for these people. Eating a little more slowly will probably result from this. “So many significant traditions have been hijacked by diet culture,” she said. “Be mindful of your emotions and savor the joy of eating. “”.
We need your help.
Behind paywalls, other news organizations have pulled back. At HuffPost, we think everyone should have free access to journalism.
Would you be able to assist us in giving our readers the vital information they need at this crucial moment?
Want to help HuffPost but can’t afford to contribute? Sign up for a free account and log in while you’re reading.
You have previously supported HuffPost, and we’ll be honest: we could use your assistance once more. You are essential to our ability to fulfill our mission of delivering free and fair news during this pivotal time.
We value your contribution to ensuring that our journalism is accessible to everyone, whether you make a single donation or many more.
We’ll be honest: we could use your assistance once more. You have previously supported HuffPost. We believe that it is vitally important to provide free and fair news at this pivotal time, and we cannot accomplish this without your help.
Encourage HuffPost.
Contributed already? To hide these messages, log in.
Dr. Chelsea Wiltjer Yost, an assistant professor at Emory University School of Medicine and an internal medicine physician with expertise in bariatric surgery patient care, stated that it is unlikely for someone who consistently maintains a calorie deficit to regain the weight they have lost if they enter Thanksgiving without following any rules. She explained that gaining this would require consuming 3,500 calories, which is equivalent to one pound.
But Yost did add that people with long-term health conditions can be affected by a single day of eating irregularly. In agreement with Heffron, she stated that individuals with long-term conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, or heart failure should pay particular attention to their doctor’s dietary advice, even during the holidays.
But according to Robert Wood Johnson Medical School clinical assistant professor and bariatric surgeon Dr. Ragui Sadek, the average person’s weight won’t likely change over time with a single meal. More importantly, he said, it doesn’t cause a change in eating unhealthy foods until January. 1 turns around. “Many people gain 10 to 15 pounds over the holidays, which can put someone who is already overweight into a prediabetic state,” he said.
With that warning in mind, Sadek wants everyone to remember this Thanksgiving, whether or not they are attempting to reduce their weight: Your habits are what really count. He underlined that actions taken on a regular basis, regardless of how large the feast, have a far greater influence than a single meal.
Unless you have a chronic illness that could kill you, you can eat Thanksgiving knowing that nothing you eat, no matter how much of it you eat, will likely affect your body in the long run. Be assured that dietitians and physicians are eating pumpkin pie while seated at their own tables.
