Are you not feeling yourself yet after Thanksgiving?

How are you doing, post-Thanksgiving?  If you’re a bit like most people I’ve seen this week, you might be feeling a bit like this.

Bouncing Back from the Thanksgiving Feast: Why You Feel Woozy

Welcome to our special post-Thanksgiving edition! We hope you had a delightful holiday, filled with joy, gratitude, and perhaps a bit too much of the sweet and savory treats that make this time of year so special. While indulging in these delicacies is part of the festive spirit, it’s not uncommon to experience some health hiccups afterwards. But fear not, we’ve got you covered with a blend of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and functional medicine insights to help you rejuvenate.

Common Post-Thanksgiving Health Issues that can Make You Feel Woozy

The ones you have probably thought of: 

  • Blood Sugar Imbalances: After a carb-heavy meal, many experience spikes in blood sugar levels, leading to woozy fatigue, mood swings (aka HANGRY!), and cravings for LOTS MORE PUMPKIN PIE!!!!
  • Digestive Discomfort: Overeating can strain our digestive system, causing bloating, indigestion, or constipation.  Since our hormones are made in our gut, those get thrown off too, leading to woozy “I’m not feeling myself.”
  • Energy Slump: The combination of sugar and carbs can lead to a temporary energy boost, followed by a profound energy drop.

The one you might have missed:

  1. Getting a cold: Sugar dramatically decreases our immune system.  When we combine that with some holiday stress which depletes our adrenals, this further depletes the immune system.  Now add on to that visiting folks from out of town, who may have come with their own bugs and we have a perfect storm of Woozy!
  2. The Setup: Let’s say you feel just fine the day after Thanksgiving.  But now it’s a few days later and you just feel like going to bed at 8…or 7…or 6.  And if you do fall asleep that early, maybe watching TV, you wake up during the night.  It FEELS like you’re just recovering from the holidays, but ACTUALLY you’re in the very early stages of fighting a bug.  This is the BEST time to treat it.  What if you could go from feeling tired and craving sugar to feeling really great in just a day?  We CAN flip the script, and the earlier the better.   A Nutrition Response Testing and acupuncture appointment would be a game changer here!

CONGAPLEX FOR IMMUNE SUPPORT

TCM and Functional Medicine to the Rescue

Acupuncture Benefits: This ancient practice can be incredibly effective for rebalancing the body after a dietary indulgence. It helps regulate blood sugar, improves digestion, and boosts overall energy levels.

Chinese Herbs to Cook With: Consider herbs like Ginseng for energy, Licorice Root for digestive support, and Cinnamon Bark to help with blood sugar regulation.

Western Tinctures: A custom made Western tincture can be just the thing to help you soar through the holidays!  I’m sipping on mine of eleuthero and dong quai right now to help strengthen my resilience and regulate my hormones.  I use MediHerb’s quality-tested line.  Echinacea is one of my favorites, and the reason I fell in love with the Standard Process/MediHerb line, because I saw the mass spectrometer analysis of the active ingredients in MediHerb’s herbs, and I understood WHY they’re so effective: they test for active ingredients!  This quality standard is much higher than health-store or online herbs.

Standard Process Supplements: Supplements like Gymnema for blood sugar balance, Digest Forte for digestive health, and Catalyn for overall wellness can be beneficial.  My favorite for this time of year is Metabol, which is a quick reset for your metabolism!