Throughout the year, it is common to have times when our usual dietary pattern is significantly altered. The summer season and Christmas are two clear examples in which our diet is modified by the specific consumption of certain products. Who doesn’t associate sardines on a spit with summer? Or the nougat with the Christmas tree?
The most curious thing is that the changes in the dietary pattern are so widespread that certain flavors end up associated with emotions and times considered to be rest and recreation.
The negative part is that during these periods fluctuations in body weight usually occur. Something predictable, taking into account that during the Christmas holidays the consumption of alcohol and products rich in sugars, saturated fats and energy usually increases. When you finish and return to your previous routine, it is common to go to professionals such as dietitians-nutritionists to try to reverse the effects of seasonal eating. This is not more important except in people who suffer from obesity or metabolic syndrome, in which weight gain can be permanent, making the prognosis and management of the disease difficult.
One of the aspects that usually worries us most after Christmas excesses is the lipid profile, referring to both cholesterol (total, HDL and LDL) and triglycerides. An alteration of these parameters is related to an increase in cardiovascular risk, with high blood cholesterol levels, known as hypercholesterolemia, being especially relevant.
It is clear that diet plays a fundamental role in maintaining the lipid profile under normal conditions. But did you know that cholesterol levels also depend on the seasons of the year? Without going any further, a study carried out in Poland described an increase in this parameter in cold seasons, and an increase in triglycerides due to stress caused by heat.
At the same time, an alteration in the lipid profile was detected after rest periods such as Christmas or Easter, with cholesterol levels in men and triglyceride levels in women being more striking.
Everything indicates that, after the Christmas celebrations, there is a period of hypercholesterolemia derived from diet.
We must keep in mind that the month of December is usually full of business dinners, meetings with friends and various gatherings that revolve around food. On the other hand, supermarkets usually begin sales campaigns for Christmas products practically in the month of October. And this represents a considerable bombardment towards the consumer that increases the frequency of consumption of these products until January of the following year.
An observational study carried out in Denmark analyzed the lipid profile of almost 26,000 people in different months of the year. When comparing the months of December and January, they saw that LDL and cholesterol levels increased by 77 and 89% respectively after the holidays. At the same time, in a French cohort, the highest cholesterol levels were detected in winter, due to a combination of an unbalanced diet and low temperatures. Let us remember that the lipid profile is modified according to our diet, but it is also subject to seasonal variations.
Does this mean that we will all almost certainly suffer from hypercholesterolemia after Christmas? Not necessarily. It all depends on the usual dietary pattern, the frequency of consumption of typical foods of the time and the physical exercise we do.
Firstly, a healthy dietary pattern maintained over time helps us to have a correct frequency of consumption and established dietary habits so as not to cause real loss of control during the holidays.
Secondly, starting to consume typical products from the month of October exposes us to a greater dietary imbalance that will continue until the festive period ends. The ideal would be to consume them sporadically or add them to the shopping cart as little as possible to avoid excess consumption.
Thirdly, do not forget to maintain regular physical activity, as this will help us avoid such striking fluctuations in our body weight, especially if we are overweight or obese.
It is clear that the holidays are considered to disconnect and to break our exhausted routines to regain strength. However, this does not mean that we should make exceptions in our diet for almost a full month a year.
Enjoyment does not have to be separated from responsible emotional eating. And who would have thought, perhaps the inflation in which we are currently immersed allows us to make food choices that, although they are not so traditional, can help avoid problems in our lipid profile, protecting our health for another year.
You can read the original article at The Conversation.
Edwin Fernández Cruz is academic director of the Master in Precision Nutrition and Nutritional Epidemiology, at UNIR – International University of La Rioja.
