Whether you’re celebrating Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, the New Year or another holiday, chances are you’re probably going to experience disruptions to your regimen.
In my last post, I wrote about how to deal with the stresses that come with the holidays.
Today, we’ll cover something equally important – how to avoid hangovers!
You might be traveling, staying up later, attending office or family parties, and maybe you’re eating or drinking things that you shouldn’t!
We’ll get to the foods you should look out for in another post, but today, let’s focus on the drinking.
I know for a fact that my body does NOT process alcohol well. I get horrible hangovers, because I’m a poor methylator.
You see, methylation is a biochemical process that helps to switch your biological processes on and off – which is an important factor in many biological functions – including detoxification.
It makes sense that my body doesn’t detox well, because the MTHFR gene plays a key role in methylation and I have significantly reduced MTHFR gene function. Fortunately, there are things I can do to help support the methylation process, like taking a vitamin B complex supplement…
Is Your Body Able To Detox Well?
No matter what your MTHFR genotype is, after consuming your gingerbread eggnog, cranberry old fashioned, or copious amounts of red wine, your body is going to need to detox!
The NFE2L2 gene can influence how well you are able to process your alcohol. Knowing your genotype for this gene will give you a sort of ‘detox score’.
Alcohol causes oxidative stress and inflammation in our body. If you have the variations of the NFE2L2 gene like I do, your liver isn’t as protected as it should be.
But more importantly, oxidative stress can run rampant after drinking too much causing stomach issues and general inflammation that can lead you to feeling lousy after that holiday party!
To combat that holiday hangover, I look at my personalized recommendations to boost NFE2L2, detoxification, and MTHFR activity which are:
- Eating veggies such as broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels
- Taking Vitamin D, E and B
- Supplementing melatonin
I don’t usually drink because it affects me so badly, but when I do, I also make sure to pace myself and hydrate. I like to use a 1-1 ratio (1 drink to 1 water).
If you’re struggling with a holiday hangover, it may benefit you to take a look at your genes to discover how your body handles detoxing and methylation! You might find that there are some changes you could make to help your body process toxins more efficiently.
And of course, SelfDecode also gives you your genetic risks for 650+ health issues, along with personalized recommendations to optimize your health.
But we’ll start with the hangovers for now.
