As we have just begun to experience the various culinary delicacies of the holidays, many of us begin to ponder, “What the heck did I do to myself to make me feel like crap? I vacillate between being happy and miserable, but I’m still craving more sweet potatoes and carbs, my joints now hurt in the morning, and I don’t feel like doing anything. Even picking up the TV remote control seems to require too much effort. I paid for all this food, gave as much of it away to dinner guests as I could, and still have at least 3 more days of leftovers. Now what do I do with all the leftover chocolate cake, the lemon cake, the pecan pie, the apple pie (with ice cream of course), and various other goodies that we prepared for the 3 waves of house guests over a 3-day period? Surely I can’t eat all these leftover goodies myself, but it would be a shame to let it all go to waste!”
While of course most of you out there have been fairly reasonable so far this season, many of you can identify with the “hypothetical “experience above. As such, this is a great opportunity to delve a bit more into some of the molecular, physiologic, physical, and mental ramifications of the holiday dietary experience.
Holiday Gout and Inflammation
Firstly, let’s talk about what Gout is all about. Gout is a form of arthritis that triggers intense joint pain. Most commonly, the large joints in the feet, i.e., the big toe, ankles, and even elbows may be affected. It is caused by a buildup of Uric Acid in the joint spaces. So, the next question becomes where does the uric acid come from. Uric acid is formed when your body breaks down a chemical called a purine, found in many animal proteins. We know that the holidays are riddled with significant sources of various proteins. Let’s review this past week. Fairly typical for the season are turkey and ham, and for some beef and pork roasts are the centerpieces of the Thanksgiving dietary experience. Sometimes, all the above may be available in one sitting to appeal to the various tastes of different guests. All of these, and even seafood like shellfish, can be rich in purines (so, if you are a pescatarian, don’t think you are out of the water yet – sorry, pun intended).
Now let’s look at other risk factors: dehydrating substances, alcohol (with beer being the worst offender), coffee, and tea as well may be contributing factors. If you have high blood pressure and are taking any diuretics like Hydrochlorothiazide, this could also exacerbate the situation. Fructose and the so-called “non-sugar” sweet drinks are also culprits. But there is some good news – cherries can reduce acid concentration, so be mindful of healthier choices.
Now let’s go to Orthomolecular. Higher Vitamin C intake is independently associated with a lower risk of gout. Supplemental vitamin C is believed to be useful in the prevention of gout according to the National Library of Medicine. This study was done in association with the American College of Rheumatology. This study included 51,000 subjects and therefore the p-value is quite significant.
Mood Dysregulation and Cognitive Processing
Let’s talk about the effects of alcohol and vitamin depletion. Now, I know that many of you may not consider yourselves to be high alcohol intake users, but a bit here and there during the holidays may still have some unforeseen negative effects. We must consider the cumulative effects of multiple potential gatherings where we might participate in some level of alcohol consumption. Beer is fairly common during the Thanksgiving and New Year’s football marathons. The following vitamins can be depleted due to excessive consumption of alcohol: Thiamine, Vitamins B6 and B12 (and most other B vitamins), Vitamin C, magnesium, Vitamin A, calcium, zinc, iron, and potassium. Many of the nutrients on this list are found in your typical Mensah Medical nutrient program to help improve both cognitive and physiologic health. These agents, to make it clear and simple, are essential to fighting cancer, chronic pain, premature aging (Zinc is especially important here), diabetes, and immunity issues. They also fight depression and central nervous system challenges. This is key – you may actually need to supplement a bit more of certain nutrients during the season if you find yourself “participating” in a bit too many yuletide celebrations.
Note, some of you undermethylators (and even overmethylators) may have noticed that both zinc and Vitamin B6 are affected here. And you are right in your thinking, many people become pyrrolic during the holidays, and not just because of alcohol ingestion. Interestingly, purines (mentioned earlier in the above section on gout), and pyrroles both have similar ring structures, but should not be confused.
Gifts of Chocolate
It is difficult to imagine a holiday season that does NOT involve the mention of chocolate. Many of you are aware that this delicious treat contains both serotonin and dopamine. Many of you, however, may not know that even thinking about chocolate causes the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine. Be aware that chocolate also contains small amounts of phenylethylamine, a compound that acts like an amphetamine, which stimulates your brain to release dopamine. No wonder you enjoy that chocolate lava cake at your favorite fine dining facility so much! Please note, these substances are more concentrated in WHITE CHOCOLATE which increases dopamine levels significantly more than in dark chocolate. So much for those chocolate-covered pretzels in those gift baskets that we fight over at Christmas (sob).
Now here is the problem – when you eat chocolate, the part of the brain known as the limbic system produces those blissful emotions with which we are familiar. However, too much dopamine in the limbic system can produce negative emotions such as paranoia and social withdrawal, anxiety and depression, as well as movement disorders. This is according to the Western Kentucky University Biology Research Department.
Lastly, for those of you looking for a healthy way to boost your mood during this Holiday Season, let’s end our discussion with a list of foods that naturally increase serotonin: eggs, salmon and fish (excellent sources), nuts and seeds, pineapple, dark green leafy vegetables (watch out undermethylators), and sauerkraut and other probiotics.
Enjoy your Holiday Season and choose wisely, Drs. Mensah and Bowman