For many contemporaries, the Christmas days are one thing above all: stressful. For our columnist, on the other hand, the positive aspects of celebrating and eating together dominate.
Also good for your health: a Christmas feast enjoyed with the family. In the picture a roast duck.
Today’s Christmas Eve and the next two days are a reason for many people to pause and reflect: about what the year that is coming to an end has brought – about their own situation, that of loved ones and that of the world.
Just thinking about the latter will often lead to a dichotomy of feelings: the realization that we (or most of us) are better off than so many others. Gratitude then arises almost automatically for being healthy or for being well cared for and treated in the case of an illness or chronic condition.
Christmas itself contributes to health and well-being in its own way. For example, researchers on American television explained that decorating the Christmas tree releases dopamine, known as the happiness hormone. and shopping for gifts can lower blood pressurewhich is good news for many people.
However, the term “stress” is used again and again in connection with the holidays, mostly depending on the size and intensity of the participating family. But being together with close relatives or friends seems to have more positive effects. That’s actually logical. Because the other 362 days of the year offer enough opportunity for trouble with the closest personal environment.
One of the usual concerns raised at Christmas is warnings about overeating and drinking too much alcohol. The experts who speak up with such admonitions usually show no evidence of their respect for the intelligence and the level of education of their fellow human beings. Anyone who is aware that the delicious roast goose crust could trigger biliary colic will probably bring carp or trout to the table of their own accord; and contemporaries with unfavorable liver values should usually leave it at a small sip of wine.
In any case, paternalism should have no place at Christmas. Many people also consciously cook “healthy” or “light” on the holidays anyway. And if you don’t do this and have to admit on December 27th that you have gone too far, you may still have a health benefit. At least when he gets on the scales because of his “sinfulness” and decides to finally lose a few pounds in the new year.
In any case, enjoyment is healthy. The ability to enjoy is a pillar on which our mental and physical health rests. This well-being also includes the joy of gifts, which in no way depends on the quantity and price. I don’t know if singer Sheryl Crow found the words herself in one of her songs or adopted them, but they also apply to Christmas: “It’s not getting what you want but wanting what you got,” she sings. It’s not about getting what you want, it’s about wanting what you have. This also applies to family, loved ones and your own health.
In the weekly column “Main thing, healthy” the authors take a personal look at topics from medicine, health, nutrition and fitness. Texts that have already been published can be found here.
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