Eat, drink and be merry? How to avoid IBS flare-ups this Christmas

Christmas: the season of flare-ups

The Big Day is on the way and while it should bring tidings of comfort and joy, if you have IBS, it can often bring flare-ups instead.

In this guide, we look at why Christmas can trigger your IBS symptoms and what you can do to support your gut over the festive season.

IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) is one of the most common digestive conditions, affecting one in ten of us worldwide.

Symptoms – which include tummy pains or cramps, diarrhoea and constipation - may occur daily, weekly or even monthly.

However, there are times when symptoms are worse - known as flare-ups.

Flare-ups are often triggered by food or drink, which makes Christmas – a time when indulging in food and drink is almost expected – a tricky time for anyone with IBS.

3 ways Christmas can trigger IBS flare-ups

1. What you eat
When you have IBS, you likely approach your diet carefully, avoiding foods that may trigger symptoms and even following an IBS-friendly diet low in FODMAPS (Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and Polyols).

Over Christmas, however, keeping to your usual diet can prove difficult; rich foods, alcohol, a cheeky mince pie and those love-them-or-loathe-them Christmas dinner sprouts, all suddenly become tempting.

What’s more, we also tend to eat more over the festive period, often consuming double or even triple our usual calories!

While indulging is understandable – it is Christmas after all! - it can throw your gut out of balance (a cause of IBS) resulting in a range of symptoms.

2. When you eat
One of the best ways to manage IBS symptoms is to eat at regular times of the day, but at Christmas, all routine goes out of the window!

Christmas dinner is a case in point – often scheduled to suit everyone, this means it may be earlier (or later) than you usually have a large meal.

On top of that, there are Christmas parties in the evening, where you may graze on nibbles, and travelling to visit family and friends, where you have to eat on the go. And let's not forget those lazy Christmas mornings where you eat breakfast later (or, if you have young kids who are excited for Santa, earlier!).

Out of your usual day to day routine and with so much focus on celebrating and socialising, you may find yourself eating at unusual times of the day and night, throwing your digestive system into chaos and triggering IBS symptoms.

3. Christmas stress
All the above can lead to stress, a major trigger for IBS symptoms and flare ups.

As much as we love it, Christmas itself can be a stressful time. Whether its family disputes, financial worries, or just making sure that the turkey has defrosted thoroughly, many of us can feel under a lot of pressure over the festive season.

This stress can exacerbate IBS symptoms due to the connection between the gut and the brain, also known as “the gut-brain axis”. Your brain perceives a threat, triggering a “fight or flight response”, and sends warning signals to your gut. This in turn triggers digestive problems like diarrhoea or the feeling of an upset or queasy stomach.

What you can do to avoid IBS flare-ups over Christmas

Christmas doesn’t have to have to throw you into dietary chaos. Here are some things you can do to manage your symptoms and avoid flare-ups over the festive period:

Take AltruVita’s Healthy Gut
Healthy Gut (HG01) is a unique gut health supplement, designed relieve the symptoms of IBS and IBS-D, including bloating and diarrhoea.

It contains a unique combination of highly absorbable turmeric extract curcumin (CurcuWIN®), low-caffeine green tea extract and vitamin D₃, which work together to support a calmer, more comfortable gut.

Healthy Gut has been clinically proven to reduce IBS-D symptoms in just 8 weeks, so the earlier you start taking it the more time you have to fortify your gut ahead of the festive season.

As Christmas gets into full swing, Healthy Gut will help support your gut, reducing inflammation and calming your digestive tract whilst improving unpleasant gut symptoms.

Plan ahead
Lots of IBS flare-ups occur over Christmas because you are too busy to eat the right foods, or you find yourself in social situations where eating the right foods is difficult. However, with a little planning, you can keep yourself on track:

When you are at home:

Prepare meals in advance and pop them in the freezer; this way you can easily have regular, balanced meals amid the Christmas chaos
Get stocked up on yummy snack foods that you know won't trigger symptoms
Take probiotic supplements which directly support in re-balancing the gut microbiome

When you are out and about:

Eat at home beforehand so you are less likely to be tempted by trigger foods
Let hosts know about your dietary restrictions so they can make sure there is plenty for you to eat
Take your own snacks

Be gentle with yourself
Managing your stress levels is a key factor in avoiding IBS symptoms over Christmas.

Reduce those gut-disrupting stress hormones by:

Getting enough sleep
Exercising daily – a gentle, post-meal walk will do
Practising mindfulness techniques
Getting fresh air (and sunshine if possible!)

Have a Gut Reset
Our free gut health guide will help you ease and even avoid common digestive troubles, so you can enjoy Christmas feeling your best.

It is full of easy diet and lifestyle tips to restore your gut health and keep you feeling your best throughout the festive season.

Support your health and wellbeing over Christmas and beyond

Altruvita has developed a range of vitamin supplements to support your health and wellbeing 365 days a year.

Our supplements are formulated by our expert medical & nutrition advisory team and feature vitamins and botanicals to: