There’s an easy way to beat festive overindulgence, but you won’t like it
It’s nearly Christmas, and what with all the office party canapes, festive drinking and eating out, we’re likely to be consuming more than usual.
Overeating at Christmas is as certain as turkey sandwiches and the new John Lewis advert.
But now new research has emerged showing all the harm of a week of binge eating can be undone – just by keeping up exercise during this period.
Pass the Celebrations
In a preliminary study, fit and healthy volunteers ate 30 per cent more than usual, and were told to do 2.5 hours of exercise per week.
After a week of overeating, scientists expected them to lose some tolerance to glucose, and be less healthy in general.
However, the exercise seemed to protect them from any ill effects. Their blood glucose tolerance, and fat tissue inflammation readings (an early indication of diabetes) were all completely normal.
Working out is the new eating out
The good news is, you don’t have to strain yourself to feel the benefits. Participants only exercised for 150 minutes over the entire week, which could mean five workouts of just half an hour. You could walk part of your commute – avoiding Christmas rail strikes in the process.
Working out is meant to be the new way to network in the city. If you’d rather go it alone, you could try a fitness app.