Why Is The Thanksgiving Meal So Dangerous?



Well, let’s start toward the end of the meal. 

After stuffing yourself silly, you eat pastries, desserts, and pies, and as glucose (sugar) leaves your gut and enters the bloodstream, blood sugar spikes. This makes sense. You eat foods high in sugar, that sugar is absorbed through the intestinal wall, and because glucose is a “simple sugar,” the absorption is rapid. It’s like pouring a packet of sugar into lemonade. There’s already sugar in there, but the addition creates a sudden elevation. 

The blood sugar spike creates an insulin spike, a reduction in insulin efficiency, and overwork for the liver which valiantly tries to remove some of the excess glucose (sugar). This isn’t necessarily a road to doom, as a restoration of “normal” eating will restore hormonal normalcy as long as meals are balance and simple sugar ingestion is limited. 

The challenge compounds when post-gluttony cravings creep in. It makes the “restoration of normal eating” a bit of a battle. 

When you spike blood sugar erratically and excessively (as you do on Thanksgiving) the blood sugar spike is followed by a blood sugar dip. The hypothalamus, the control center of the brain, initiates an inner drive for you to “eat sugar,” so blood sugar will be restored. You recognize that inner drive, not as a biochemical survival mechanism, but as a craving, and so you eat sugar. 

The sensory excitatory organs on and around your tongue respond to the sweet snacks you obediently consume and a part of the brain called the nucleus accumbens cranks out the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine is the same neurotransmitter that spikes in response to cocaine. 


It’s also important to note that when blood sugar drops, energy plummets. 

In essence, without a rapid return to “eating normally,” the Thanksgiving meal has a lasting impact. 

The erratic bouts of sugar ingestion prompted by sugar-induced spikes and radical drops in the neurotransmitter dopamine create a blood sugar roller coaster. The pancreas desperately tries to stabilize blood sugar and the body maintains a state of insulin dominance. 

This isn’t good. I mean, the treats taste good and all . . . but . . . it isn’t good if you’re going to react at all when the scale gives you a bit of bad news. 
 
Let’s put things in perspective. All of this simply means . . . hormonally, after the meal and the residual binges, you’re in a state where energy drops become frequent, cravings become almost irrepressible, and, in part because insulin is a “storage hormone,” the resultant inner environment becomes ideal for fat storage. 

If you want to end up on a healthier, fitter side of the thanksgiving feast than you did last year, I highly encourage you to get my Pre-Tox strategy.


Credits: Karolina Grabowska/Tim Mossholder


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kyle Craig is a Miami Personal Trainer and Wellness Coach who helps men and women overcome health and fitness challenges in 8-12 weeks. Connect with him on social media for empowerment. Youtube and Instagram