Health tips for the day after Thanksgiving

Watch this on YouTube: Health Tips for the Day After Thanksgiving

What to do when you’ve eaten too much? You really shouldn’t have had that second slice of pumpkin pie. But it’s too late now. So, what do you do? Today you have a headache and low appetite and feel sluggish and ‘blah.’ Here are a few tips. If you’re totally new to Ayurveda, check out my four minute video, Ayurveda Basics: Vata, Pitta and kapha.

 Ginger tea is your best friend today

Start your day with ginger tea. It will kindle your appetite, as well as helping your headache or stomachache. If you are a vata or pitta type, make some fresh ginger tea. Grate a teaspoon of fresh ginger root and simmer for a few minutes in a cup of water. Strain, add honey and or lemon if desired, and sip. If you are a kapha type, ideally use cut and sifted dry ginger in place of fresh ginger. But if you don’t have cut and sifted ginger, fresh ginger tea is fine, or a tulsi-ginger teabag.

Support your digestion

Once you are ready to eat, have half a cup of digestive tea after eating. We recommend cumin, coriander and fennel tea.  Add a third of a teaspoon each of cumin, coriander and fennel seeds to a cup of water, boil until the seeds sink and strain. This will help your meal to digest and burn toxins as well.

Don’t eat until you feel hungry

A little bit of fasting is good after a feast. If you’re not hungry for breakfast, it’s okay to skip eating and just continue drinking ginger tea. For a vata type, it might be good to do a twenty-four hour fast. Have some soupy kichari with ghee for supper. Coax your appetite by eating half your usual quantity.  If you are pitta, and don’t feel hungry all day, just keep drinking fresh ginger tea. Have soupy kichari for breakfast on Saturday and a thicker kichari or a soup for lunch. But if you do get hungry on Friday, have some soupy kichari whenever you get hungry, but try to eat less than your usual quantity. As for kapha; it might take longer for your appetite to return. Even if you don’t feel like eating until Saturday early evening, that’s okay. Just keep kindling your appetite with ginger tea. When you do get an appetite, have some soup or soupy kichari.

Get fresh air

Fresh air, known as maruta seva, is an important component in regaining your appetite. Tempting as it might be to stay at home and curl up with a good book when you feel sluggish, try to get out to take the air and blow away the cobwebs. Growing up just twelve miles from the North Sea, I was used to getting sea breezes, walking along a sea wall or crunching down Shingle Street (which is not a street, but a really long shingle beach). Nowadays, I get mountain air instead. And if sea or mountains are not an option, take a walk in your local park, or by a lake or river, go to your nearest state park for pleasant breezes or a brisk wind, as the case may be.

Get some exercise

There’s nothing like a brisk walk to stimulate your appetite, get your circulation going, and clear brain fog. Vyayama or exercise is essential for recovery from a day of indulgence. In fact, try fitting in a walk after your Thanksgiving meal. Walking 1,00 paces or half a mile after a meal will improve your digestion. Then plan a good walk in a pleasant environment the next day. For kapha, try to do something a bit more strenuous on Friday, like a half-day hike.

Reach out to someone in need

Finally, exercise your all-important compassion muscles by reaching out to someone who may be lonely this holiday season. Knock on the door of an elderly neighbour, give a phone call to someone you know is alone, help serve a meal for the hungry.  Spread the love and good cheer and feel the happiness that brings.

Alakananda Ma M.B., B.S. (Lond.) is an Ayurvedic Doctor (NAMA) and graduate of a top London medical school. She is co-founder of Alandi Ayurveda Clinic and Alandi Ayurveda Gurukula in Boulder Colorado, as well as a spiritual mother, teacher, flower essence maker and storyteller. Alakananda is a well known and highly respected practitioner in the Ayurveda community both nationally and internationally.

Enliven your holistic health! Visit Alakananda Ma in Alandi Ashram’s ayurvedic clinic to support the overall rejuvenation of your body, mind, and spirit. In-person and virtual appointments available. Book now!