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The holidays can be stressful, whether you’re hosting family, braving a trip over the pass or across the country, or trying not to blow the budget on presents. Do you know what else can get stressed during this magical time of year? Your heart. In fact, doctors often see a spike in abnormal heart rhythms and heart attacks around Christmas and New Year’s.
The last thing you need is a trip to the emergency room, so here is how to keep your heart healthy during the holidays.
Avoid ‘holiday’ heart with a nonalcoholic drink
With holiday merriment (and stress) can come more drinking than usual. Spiked eggnog, festive cocktails, an extra glass or two of wine at dinner — all that alcohol can take a toll on your heart and lead to heart palpitations, which people often describe as feeling like strong, irregular or fast heartbeats. The term “holiday heart” is sometimes used to describe this phenomenon.
“We know that drinking alcohol happens more often during the holidays, and so patients are more likely to experience symptoms of irregular or rapid heartbeats,” says Eugene Yang, MD, MS, a cardiologist and the medical director of the UW Medicine Eastside Specialty Center Heart Institute.
Most of the time, the palpitations will go away within 24 hours after you stop drinking. But sometimes it can lead to something more serious, like atrial fibrillation, a heart rhythm disorder that can increase your risk for stroke. You can be at risk for it at any age and without any history of a heart condition, so if you experience persistent symptoms like heart flutters, rapid or pounding heartbeats, dizziness, fainting, shortness of breath or chest pain, head to the emergency room.
Ideally, you can avoid these symptoms altogether by avoiding or limiting the amount of alcohol you drink at your holiday feast. Maybe substitute in a nonalcoholic beer or seltzer between rounds of cocktails, or opt for something with lower alcohol by volume, or ABV, like a vodka soda with extra soda water.
Eat a healthy snack before big holiday dinners
It’s hard not to pile up your plate during the holidays — so many traditions and memories are tied to our favorite dishes. But all that rich food can take a toll on your heart over the course of the winter.
“The foods are richer and heavier in winter, and people are generally less active, so that often correlates with why blood pressures tend to be higher in the winter months,” says Yang.
Here are a few tips to prevent yourself from overindulging:
- Choose healthy snacks at the grocery store. The candy and cookie aisle might be tempting around the holidays, but putting some healthier, higher-protein options in your cart — like nuts, nonfat yogurt and cottage cheese with berries — will keep you full and less tempted to eat that plate of cookies.
- Don’t skip your regular meals on the day of big holiday dinners to “save room.” In fact, have one of those high-protein snacks beforehand. This will make it less likely you’ll put too much on your plate and eat past the point of being full.
- Stay hydrated. “If you drink a lot of water, that will give you a sensation of being more full, and then you will consume less,” says Yang. It will also help with the extra alcohol you might be consuming.
Ask someone else shovel the driveway (and go on a walk instead)
If you’ve not been the best at getting to the gym, now is not the time to jump into an extremely strenuous activity. ERs see more heart attacks during the winter months because people put sudden stress on their hearts doing activities like shoveling heavy snow. On top of that, cold weather can constrict your arteries and raise your blood pressure.
So whether the Pacific Northwest gets some snow around the holidays, or you’re trying to dig your car out of a storm at Snoqualmie Pass after a day of skiing or snowshoeing, think about what you’re asking your heart to do.
“I think you need to be mindful about what your fitness level is before deciding that you’re going to be a weekend warrior,” says Yang.
Running that holiday 10K even though you haven’t had time to train? Maybe not the best idea. On the other hand, moderate exercise, like a long walk or an easy spin on the stationary bike, is, of course, great for your heart — the more active you can be around the holidays, the better.
And managing your stress and getting enough sleep will go a long way to protect your heart, though no one is going to be perfect during this crazy time of year.
“These are the holidays, so let’s be realistic,” says Yang. “I know that I’m going to probably eat heavier, richer foods on Thanksgiving, but I will balance that the following day by getting outside, being active and not eating any simple carbohydrates or processed foods.”
A version of this story originally appeared in the UW Medicine Newsroom.
