‘Tis the season of indulgence. However, if you aren’t careful, holiday celebrations can leave you with more than just a little heartburn – in fact, much worse.
Enjoying holiday meals and having fun with family and friends is fine, but recognize that it doesn’t mean your pre-existing heart condition has suddenly gone away.
Make an appointment with your cardiologist if you need guidance on how to navigate the holidays while managing a heart condition.
How can the holidays affect your heart?
There are many different reasons the holidays can be hard on your heart: from the poor food choices as we indulge in holiday treats to the stress of holiday gatherings that often over-fill our calendars. There can also be heavy drinking during this time of year, which can be a problem all on its own.
A well-defined phenomenon called “holiday heart” even exists, where people drink to an excess and can cause heart rhythm problem.
How to stay healthy during the holidays
Overall, the biggest challenge people encounter during the holidays is a break in routine. So, it’s important to have a plan that will help you maintain your healthy habits. Being cognizant of your changing schedule and ensuring you are more deliberate about doing what you need to do to maintain your health, is necessary, including remembering to take medications.
Being realistic is also a key part of ensuring your holidays are both merry and healthy. Remember, it doesn’t have to be all or nothing.
Going cold turkey – and this is not in reference to the temperature of the entree at the center of your holiday dinner table – is often not the solution. If you tell yourself that you’re going to skip the snacks and appetizers this year, you’ll likely fight the urge for a few hours before you give in. Instead, allow yourself to enjoy the holidays, but have a plan about how much you’re going to indulge.
Realizing the holidays do come with a certain amount of stress can also help you plan ahead on how to keep those stress levels to a minimum. Too much stress can have a big impact on your heart by increasing your blood pressure, impacting your sleep and leading to other poor choices like overindulgence.
The holiday season can also result in physical stress when people start doing things we don’t normally do. That might be taking part in a family football game that gives you a workout you’re not used to or finding yourself shoveling snow due to the colder weather. Changes in your activity level – for whatever reason – can affect your health, so it’s important to keep that in mind.
How we can help
However, don’t wait if you feel something’s off. Fewer patients typically come in during the holidays. Unfortunately, that usually leads to a rise in post-holiday health problems – including heart attacks.
People often don’t visit the doctor during the holiday because they want to be at home with their family. However, delaying treatment can be extremely dangerous. Listen to your body, and make an appointment with your cardiologist to help you miss one holiday, if necessary, rather than all the holidays.
Learn more about the heart and vascular services we provide at Bon Secours.
