Realfoodology - 72: How to Navigate Holiday Parties and Party Smart

Episode Date: December 17, 2021

On this special bonus episode, my podcast Producer Drake Peterson and I share with you some tips and tricks on how to go through this holiday season without derailing your healthy habits.  We hope you have a great holiday season and thank you so much for listening to our show! For the graphic that goes along with this episode visit: https://www.instagram.com/p/CXl8SghvNac/?utm_medium=copy_link

Hi guys, this is going to be another solo episode. A lot of you guys really enjoyed the Thanksgiving one that Drake and I did. And so we're going to do another one. So I guess it's not really solo. Drake, my podcast producer is here as well. Happy holidays, everyone. Yeah. We figured that we would give you some tips and tricks on how to navigate holiday parties and also just how to drink healthier, biohack your way out of a hangover, and just to give you some good options for holiday drinks and snacks and for drinks on New Year's.

What's biohacking mean? So it's one of the terms that Dave Asprey, the founder of Bulletproof, along with some other experts and doctors and nutritionists and whatever out there, they coined this term, and basically what it means is you are hacking your body in order for it to work optimally. So little, little hacks that you can do, for example. So like if we're going to biohack our way out of a hangover, it's basically like, I'm going to give you a bunch of supplements

you should take and little tips and tricks to do before and after drinking that will help to hack your way. So little hacks out of actually getting a hangover. Does that make sense? Yeah, it makes perfect sense. And also just a little side note, we are not condoning or telling you to drink. Yes. Yeah. But you know, we just want to give you options because we all like to have fun. This is really exciting. Organifi now has kid stuff. They just released two kid products. One is called Easy Greens and it's a refreshing green apple juice where kids will never know that it's packed with veggies. And the other one is called Protect. It's a delicious wild berry punch like the Kool-Aid that we used to have as a kid, but without any sugar. This is really exciting. And

if you've listened to the podcast for a while, you know that I'm a huge fan of Organifi and most specifically because every single product that they make is glyphosate residue free. So you know that you're going to be able to give these powders to your kids and know that they will be able to consume them safely without any glyphosate in it. So let's break down each one. The Easy Greens is a nourishing and delicious blend of superfoods and veggies that provides essential nutrients, probiotics, and digestive enzymes to bring balance to kids' growing bodies without fillers, additives, or junk. It helps to fill in nutritional gaps, aids in growth and development, supports digestive health, has a rich micronutrient profile, and includes digestive enzymes. This would be a great way to sneak in greens for your little one

without them actually knowing that it's healthy for them. And the second one, which is the wild berry punch similar to Kool-Aid, is called Protect. And it is to support your child's daily immune health with food-derived nutrients that work to strengthen their body's first line of defense. I know just through girlfriends of mine that have children that when your kids are going to school, going to daycare, they're coming home sick a lot more often just because they're getting exposed to different kids and different viruses when they're out in the world playing with kids. So this would be a great way to help to support your little one's immune health. It's organic and it's also made with real whole food ingredients. It has a delicious berry taste and it's low sugar and it's gentle enough for kids to take every

single day. And I really love the ingredients in this one. It's orange and acerol cherry, which is a powerful source of vitamin C and antioxidants, astragalus, elderberry and propolis. These are all really great for overall immune health. If you want to try the products that I talked about today or any of the Organifi products, go to Organifi.com slash realfoodology and use code realfoodology for 20% off. Again, that's Organifi. It's O-R-G-A-N-I-F-I dot com slash realfoodology. Did you know that most cookware and appliances are made with forever chemicals? Yes, that means your nonstick pans, your air fryers, your waffle makers, your blender could possibly have PFAS, and yes, even our beloved crockpots and pressure cookers.

I have actually been talking about this for so long. Back in 2006, my mom came to my dorm room and made me get rid of all my nonstick pans because she was concerned about me being exposed to something called Teflon. Teflon is a coating that is used on nonstick pans and a lot of these appliances that I just named. So I've avoided Teflon, nonstick, PFA coated appliances, pots and pans, you name it for a very long time. And the only option for the, for a very long time was just stainless steel pots and pans. So I was really excited when a company like our place came out because they started creating really beautiful cookware and appliances that are like pieces of art. Every appliance that I

have from our place, I legit want to store it on the counter. And I'm the type of person that does not want anything on my counter because I like it to look really just clean and minimal. But I'm so obsessed with all the our place products that I have so many of them displayed on my counter because they are legit pieces of art. Our place is a mission driven and female founded brand that makes beautiful kitchen products that are healthy and sustainable. All their products are made without PFAS, which are the forever chemicals, and also made without PTFE, which is Teflon. If a company is not outwardly stating that they don't use these chemicals, then if they are using non-stick coating on their appliances, they are

absolutely using forever chemicals. And there's been increasing global scrutiny for their impact on the environment and our health. And recognizing this impact. The EU plans to prohibit PFAS by 2025. Our place has always been PFAS free and they offer durable toxin-free ceramic coatings, ensuring a healthy, safe cooking experience. And let me tell you, you guys, they are changing the game with non-toxic appliances. They have a blender, they have an air fryer, they have a crock pot, not to mention they're amazing. Always pan. They have a perfect pot, which is just the perfect size for soups. And they also just came out with a cast iron that I'm loving as well. And I more recently replaced all of the bowls and plates in my kitchen because I really needed an

upgrade. My other ones were so old. So I got some from our place and they are so beautiful. The ceramics are beautiful. The colors are amazing. Like I said, everything is like a piece of art. If you want to try any of the products from our place, go to fromourplace.com and enter my code realfoodology at checkout to receive 10% off site-wide. That's fromourplace.com, code realfoodology. Our place offers a 100-day trial with free shipping and returns. Let's start with just some tips and tricks on how to navigate holiday parties. So I know this is a big one. A lot of people like to starve themselves all day in anticipation, knowing that they're going to be going to a party later where there's going to be

a lot of temptations, a lot of like sugary treats and snacks and whatever that they want to avoid. Whatever you do, don't do that. Eat normally throughout the day because what's going to happen is if you avoid eating all day or you try to really like eat a minimal amount, you're going to get to that party and you're going to totally binge out. So what I say is eat normal throughout the day. If you want to focus on, you know, getting greens in earlier in the day, try to focus on getting more healthy, nutritious foods and during, you know, like earlier in the

day. And then I would say too,, you know, like earlier in the day. And then I would say too, if you know that it's just going to be like a buffet of a bunch of snacks that are going to be really tempting, maybe eat a meal before you go to the party, but also don't feel like you have to, because I don't want anyone to go into any sort of like disordered eating habits where they feel like they're depriving themselves of anything. Also, just remember that, you know, it's one day, One day of going to town on the snacks and the treats is not going to completely derail you. What really adds up is if you're doing every single day. So if you have holiday parties every day, one, good on you because you're really popular. But also like maybe reel it in a little bit.

I feel like all my friends moved away now. I know. From COVID. Oh, God. That, yeah. I mean, there was a mass exodus out of LA. Um, but I know like I'm going home. My parents love to, they have so many friends. My parents have like a more vibrant social life than I do. And I feel like we're going to end up at so

many parties. Um, which is great. I love that about them. So yeah. So I would say like eat a little bit beforehand or also just be like, you know what? It's fine. It's one day I'm going to lean in. Another trick that I really like, bring one of your favorite snacks and or like a favorite treat. So like if you have a healthy organic pie recipe that you really love, make it and bring it. Because who knows, you can also like introduce your people, your family, your friends to healthier foods that maybe they didn't even know that they like. So that's a hack that I love. And then also bonus points, you get a healthy treat. And if you want to make it sugar-free, great that you can also have and enjoy and not feel like you're going to town. Um, also like a healthy, good snack that you want to bring.

Um, then you'll have options at the party and you don't have to relinquish yourself just to all of the foods that everyone else brought and made. Um, if you want to kind of try to eat more keto, that will fill you up faster. So if you want to go more for like the cheeses and the meats and try to avoid the crackers, that's another great little hack. Again, I don't want anyone to feel like they're depriving themselves. And then this is a big one. We're going to, going to get into the alcohol, avoid the sugary drinks, never go for the punch. If you want the eggnog, have a little bit. Or you can also go to we're going to link this in the show notes. Dave Asprey has on the Bulletproof website, a recipe for a healthier eggnog that looks amazing. So be the person that

brings eggnog and make it with organic pasteurized eggs, sugar free like xylitol or stevia or monk fruit. Anyways, you can look up the recipe, but that's a great option if you love eggnog. And then, yeah, so also this is another trick I do. I bring the alcohol that I want to drink to parties. So one of my favorite things is Dry Farm Wines. They make an organic sugar-free wine. You have to order them online, so you've got to plan a little bit ahead of time. So if you want to have it in on time, um, I do know there's a lot of other companies making sugar-free wines now. So if you don't have time to order it, you can also go to like whole foods, um, depending on where you, where you live in the country. I would just Google

sugar-free wines. There is also a sugar-free champagne that I love to bring for new years. It's a brand called Bellissimo and it's organic and also sugar free. So that's another great option. Or if you're just at the party, you don't really feel like bringing anything ahead of time. Just either like limit yourself to one glass of wine if you can, or just go for the clear alcohols and just do soda water. Avoid the punch, avoid the sodas. Really, the big takeaway here is just avoid the sugar in your alcohol because that's really what's going to derail you. That's going to cause the hangover next day. And that's what we're really trying to avoid. Do you have anything to add

there? Oh, water. Oh, yeah, definitely water. But going back to the wines, I thought that you go and get a really nice bottle of wine, spend $30, $40. I thought that that would be, you know, a decent, organic, healthy wine. But no, a lot of these bigger brands put so much sugar and all these additives in there and it's just not, it's not good for you. Yeah. Well, and that's usually what leads to hangovers too, because it's not necessarily the wine itself and the alcohol. It's all the additives that they put in afterwards and the high amounts of sugar that are in there. I'm sure everyone listening has this experience where they had one bottle of red wine. I'm not saying you literally drank the whole bottle, but you're like- Or you can.

Yeah. I mean, you can. I'm not saying we're condoning it, but everyone has that story where they're like, I don't know what happened. I had like two glasses of wine and I was so insanely hungover the next day. It wasn't necessarily the amount of alcohol you had. It was all the additives and crap and sugar that was in that bottle of wine. So that's something to be mindful of. Like we said, dry farm wines is a great option. I was recently at Whole Foods and I saw, I wish I could remember the name of the brand. You're just going to have to Google, but I saw a sugar-free wine that they carry in Whole Foods now, which is amazing. So that's a great option. Another thing I really love. So this kind of brings us into New Year's. There's a company called Flying Embers.

If you guys remember, I've had I had one of the co founders on not too recently. They make hard kombucha and they make one specifically for the holidays for New Year's. It's a brute one. They make it with they make it with champagne yeast. That's what I was looking for. Yes. They make it with champagne yeast and it's basically a, an organic sugar-free hard kombucha that tastes like champagne. It's amazing. So I always get that every year for New Year's. I love to bring that to New Year's parties. I also love the, like I said earlier, the Bellissimo sugar-free organic champagne. That's a great one to bring to New Year's parties. And then again, also Dry Farm Wines. If you plan ahead and order in time, they actually have a bunch of sparkling wines on there as well that are keto, organic, and sugar-free.

And one thing, you know, Courtney's all about do what's best for you and your body. We have tried a lot of organic wines over the year or two that we've known each other. And sometimes we're like, hey, that organic wine that we tried is garbage and it gave us headaches immediately. So you might have to try some stuff for the first time. But, you know, if something makes you feel bad, don't drink it anymore. Just throw it away. That's a great point. Yeah. And not all of them are going to do well with your body. So yeah, that's a great point. And Yelp is your friend. There's so many amazing wine shops, at least where we are. And if you go to Yelp or Google, you can find a lot of really good natural wine stores,

hopefully some near you or places you can order online. Yeah. Oh, and you know what? I just thought of this too. For those listening that don't drink or they're really trying to cut back on their drinking. There's a ton of companies now that are making non-alcoholic spirits that are delicious. Again, you're going to have to Google that. Um, and we can leave maybe a little link in the show notes for stuff, but there are so many companies now that are making organic sugar-free, um, non-alcoholic spirits. And I love to do that too. Sometimes I'll bring one of those to a party with me and I'll go back and forth. I'll have like a sugar-free cocktail or a glass of wine, and then I'll make like a fun sugar-free mocktail with one of these spirits. So that's also another

great option for people that don't drink. One of my friends who doesn't, uh, doesn't drink, he used to drink, but he doesn't drink anymore. He likes something that's called seed lip Grove. Yeah. And it's really good. I've actually had some mocktails with it and you wouldn't even be able to tell. Yeah, it's delicious. I love those. For the beer drinkers, there's also a lot of really good non-alcoholic beers out there. A lot of companies make it. And you, you know, if you want to just have that little taste of beer, just go ahead and check that out. There's tons of options. Yeah, absolutely. And you know, I'm personally not a beer drinker, so I always forget to bring this up. So I'm so glad that you did. If you are a beer drinker,

look for, there's so many companies now that are making organic beer. So if you want to actually drink the alcoholic beer, I don't know if you know of anyone's off the top of your head, Dre, cause I'm not a beer drinker. Um, but there are good, healthier organic beers. Um, I know a lot of companies now are trying to focus on doing lower calorie beers as well. So that's another great option. Yeah. I'm not really sure about the healthier type of beers. I mean, I know there are some like Omission. They make a gluten-free beer. I don't know if they have a non-alcoholic version, but yeah, Omission is a really good one. And there is something I've been seeing seeing I have no idea if

this is good or not but it's it's called like hop water have you heard of that oh yeah actually I have yeah yeah it's like it's it's non-alcoholic seltzer but it's used with and it's made with hops so I don't know there's so many different options out there but just be aware read the ingredients and like just you know be smart and wise about it do you want to hear the biggest discovery of our time for promoting healthy aging? Of course you do, because all of us are concerned about aging. There is a class of ingredients called senolytics that were discovered less than 10 years ago, and they are being called the biggest discovery of our time for promoting healthy aging and

enhancing your physical prime. Now, when I'm talking about aging here, I'm not just talking about on a superficial level, wrinkles and saggy skin. I'm talking about energy, joint pain, your ability to show up for your life, cognitive function. I'm talking about the real effects of cellular aging on the body and what it does to our body as we age. Now, as we age, everyone accumulates something called senescent cells in their body. They cause symptoms of aging, such as aches and discomfort, slow workout recoveries, sluggish mental and physical energy associated with that middle age feeling. They're also known as zombie cells. They're old and worn out and not serving a useful function for our health anymore,

but they're taking up space and nutrients from our healthy cells. Much like pruning the yellowing and dead leaves off of a plant, qualia senolytic removes those worn out senescent cells to allow for the rest of them to thrive in the body. And you just take these supplements two days a month. That's right. Just two days a month. Qualia Synolytic is an amazing product that helps to remove these senescent cells. And if you want to hear more about the product and more about these senescent cells that affect aging, go back to the episode that I did with Dr. Greg Kelly of neurohacker. So you can dive more into the details of all of it. But the formula that I'm talking about, qualia senolytic is non-GMO it's vegan, it's gluten free, and the ingredients are meant to compliment one another factoring in the combined effect

of all the ingredients together. If for some reason you don't like the product, you're not feeling the effects of it. It also has a 100 day money back guarantee. If you want to resist aging at the cellular level, try qualia senolytic, go to neurohacker.com slash real foodology for up to a hundred dollars off and make sure to use code real foodology at checkout for an additional 15% off that's neurohacker N E-E-U-R-O-H-A-C-K-E-R.com slash realfoodology for an extra 15% off your purchase. Thanks to Neurohacker for sponsoring today's episode. Imagine having a metabolic coach in your pocket that you could access at any point, any time in the day, whenever you want. That's what Lumen is. Lumen is the world's first handheld metabolic coach.

It's a device that measures your metabolism through your breath. And on the app, it lets you know if you're burning fat or carbs and gives you tailored guidance to improve your nutrition, workout, sleep, and even stress management. I have so many podcast episodes about metabolic flexibility and why it is so incredibly important for your overall health and longevity. And now thanks to Lumen, you can actually see in real time your body's ability to efficiently switch between using different fuel sources like carbs and fats. There's preferred times to use each and how well you can switch places between burning carbs versus burning fats will tell you a lot about what is going on in your metabolism and where you are in the metabolic flexibility spectrum. All you have to do is breathe into your lumen first thing in the morning, and you'll know

what's going on with your metabolism, whether you're burning mostly fats or carbs, then lumen gives you a personalized nutrition plan for that day. Based on your measurements, you can also breathe into it before and after workouts and meals. So you know exactly what's going on in your body in real time. And lumen will give you tips to keep you on top of your health game. Why is this so important? Your metabolism is your body's engine. It's how your body turns the food you eat into the fuel that keeps you going because your metabolism is at the center of everything your body does.

Optimal metabolic health translates to a bunch of benefits, including easier weight management, improved energy levels, better fitness results, better sleep, and more. Now this is a really cool feature too. It can actually track your cycle as well as the onset of menopause and adjust your recommendations to keep your metabolism healthy through hormonal shifts. So if you want to take the next step in improving your health, go to lumen.me and use RealFoodology to get $100 off your Lumen. That is L-U-M-E-N dot M-E and use RealF Foodology at checkout for $100 off. Thank you so much to Lumen for sponsoring this episode. So should we go into how to hack your way out of a hangover?

100%. I mean, this is like a no-brainer. Everyone knows this, but I feel like we always need that reminder. The biggest thing for me that really, well, there's two things that help for me. And you just reminded me of this. Drink water in between your drinks. Oftentimes when we're at parties and we're socializing, it's more of a habit to just be drinking something and have it in your hand. So swap back and forth. What I love to do is I'll have a drink and then I'll get like a huge glass

of soda water and I'll drink that in between another drink. And that has really helped me a lot. And then also another thing to remember, I try to chug like 30 ounces of water before I go to bed. And that helps immensely. Yeah, you have to pee a lot. But yeah, I know. That's the only thing. But you know, it's the price you pay. So I have a couple of little hacks that I have. Actually, when I worked for Tove Lo, this was like one of her and her band's like favorite things about having me around like post partying is I was their little like supplement fairy as they called me. Cause I would come in in the morning with like, take these electrolytes, take this little green shot juice or this little green juice shot, take these vitamins. So these are things that really, really help if you want

to prevent a hangover before drinking, take your B vitamins. So alcohol depletes vitamin and mineral stores, especially your B vitamins. So a B complex before you drink is really going to help to prevent that hangover. Another really great one to take before drinking is ALA, which is alpha lipoic acid. It's a potent antioxidant on its own, and it helps your body produce glutathione and glutathione is the body's master antioxidant. It is really good for the liver. It helps to detoxify the liver and clear out the detoxification pathways. And so glutathione is a huge one. So you could also just take glue, like straight glutathione. And I want to say that there's a couple of these supplements that I'm

going to list off and based on what you feel intuitively and what you think will work best for you, I say do that. Um, because a couple of these are kind of repeating. So like another one, for example, would be, I would say, take NAC before you start drinking. And then I would also take it before you go to bed that night. NAC is similar to ALA. It's a precursor to glutathione and it's a great nutrient for liver support. And basically all of these supplements that I am suggesting are supporting of the liver. So those are all the things you would want to take before you start drinking. Um, if you can only pick like two, I would do a B vitamin and either NAC or glutathione. You don't have to take both. Both, I mean,

glutathione and NAC is what I meant. Post-drinking, when you get home, and what I do before I go out, I lay all these out so that if I come home kind of drunk, so I don't forget, I'm like, oh, here's my lineup. So I didn't forget to do it before bed. Electrolytes, number one thing. So what I really like the most is a brand called element. And we will link those in the show notes or Ultima because both of them are sugar-free element is really high in sodium. Contrary to popular belief, sodium is not bad for you. It's part of the electrolyte profile that your body needs for electrolytes. Now I will say liquid IV is a really popular one. I am a fan why because it has a

ton of sugar and what did we say earlier the number one thing you want to avoid for a hangover is sugar sugar is gonna derail you more than anything else and there are plenty of options like i said element or ultima which are sugar-free and they're going to give you all those electrolytes electrolytes to replenish all the electrolytes that you've lost from drinking. Wow. Liquid IV has 11 grams of sugar. I know it's horrible. And they have some, some rhetoric on their website about how the sugar helps with the bioavailability or the delivery. And I don't buy it, but I don't want to, I don't want to shit all over them. I just don't, I'm not a proponent for a lot of sugar. Um, so, okay. So electrolytes, when you come home and then you want to take a glutathione, although, you know, I will say this. So I do one of two things after the electrolytes,

you can either take charcoal and what charcoal does is that it binds to any toxins in your body and it completely eliminates them. Now, the caveat here is that it binds to any toxins in your body and it completely eliminates them. Now, the caveat here is that it's so powerful and it binds to everything that if you take charcoal with other supplements, it negates the effects of all those other supplements because it takes everything out. So what I would do, if you don't have charcoal, then take your NAC or your glutathione. You can also take both, um, with your electrolytes before bed or take your glutathione before you go out drinking. And then when you come home to the electrolytes and the charcoal, because otherwise, if you take the glutathione with the charcoal, it's going to completely negate it. So, um, yeah, that's about it. And then if you want to add on one more thing,

I take this every single day to support my liver health milk thistle. I take it every morning just with my supplements. Milk thistle has been scientifically proven to protect the liver and it really helps the detoxification pathways as well with the liver. And so I take that every day for liver health. And I think that's really it. Do you have anything else to add, Drake? Don't drink and drive. Get an Uber. Yes. Uber or Lyft, baby. All the way. Well, I hope you guys have an amazing holiday and we'll talk to you soon. Bye. Bye. Thanks for listening to today's episode of the Real Foodology Podcast. If you liked this episode,

please leave a review in your podcast app to let me know. This is a resident media production produced by Drake Peterson and edited by Chris McCone. The theme song is called heaven by the amazing singer Georgie spelled with a J. Love you guys so much. See you next week. The content of this show is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual medical and mental health advice and doesn't constitute a provider patient relationship. I am a nutritionist, but I am not your nutritionist. As always, talk to your doctor or your health team first.