I am not a fan of overeating. In fact, I believe that constantly overeating is one of the unhealthiest things a person can do because it puts you in a state of constant excess energy. Excess means that you cannot stomach the foods you are eating. It means your cells are literally full, your organs are overloaded, and hormones aren’t working the way they’re supposed to. Overeating is actually inflammatory, so if you do it every day, you will have chronic inflammation. And that’s not to mention the impact it has on obesity.
But we are human: we feast. Whether it’s for a holiday like Thanksgiving or a birthday celebration or just because we feel like it, sometimes we like to eat a big meal. Sometimes we like to overeat.
How do we make it safer? How do we mitigate the negative effects of overeating and possibly even turn it into a positive input?
Let’s find out:
A hard training
An intense workout before a large meal will improve nutrient distribution through several mechanisms. Firstly, by removing glycogen from your muscle cells, you will increase insulin sensitivity and open up a safe storage space for all the carbohydrates you are about to consume. Intense exercise before eating increases something called insulin-independent glucose uptake, meaning you don’t even need to increase insulin levels to store glucose as glycogen. It can store glucose while maintaining lipolysis or the release of body fat for burning.
Intense exercise also positively regulates muscle protein synthesis, so that any protein you ingest preferentially targets muscle hypertrophy and recovery. In short, exercising plenty before eating allows you to consume more food without incurring the same metabolic consequences you would otherwise.
The most effective workout for these purposes will be a full-body workout that incorporates strength training and cardiovascular or metabolic conditioning. Think of a CrossFit workout, a combination of sprints and lifts, or circuit training.
take berberine
Try berberine 30 minutes before a meal. Berberine is a powerful antihyperglycemic supplement that improves lipid levels, metabolic function, and, when taken before a meal on an empty stomach, postprandial blood sugar. You will improve blood glucose levels if you take berberine before eating. Another useful effect of berberine is mitochondrial uncoupling, meaning it increases energy expenditure and “makes room” for all the incoming energy during a large meal by increasing metabolic rate.
eat vinegar
Eating vinegar 20 to 30 minutes before a large meal containing carbohydrates improves glucose tolerance and reduces the usual glucose response. This is actually part of the reason why vinegar salads are traditionally consumed before meals. It’s not just because they taste good (although that’s part of it) but because they prepare the body for better glucose utilization.
fast before
Eat little or nothing during the day before your big meal; The best meals I have ever had have come at the end of a fast. It doesn’t have to be a full day fast. It could mean just skipping breakfast and having a light lunch. And I wouldn’t recommend eating just one meal a day in perpetuity, as I think that can have long-term negative consequences for energy levels and metabolic flexibility. But if you’re about to eat a large, one-time meal, not eating in the hours before will help mitigate most of the negative effects of overconsumption while maximizing your enjoyment.
Prioritize proteins
If you know you’re going to overeat, make sure you eat plenty of protein. Is it Thanksgiving? Get a lot of turkey. Christmas dinner? Eat your portion of leg of lamb. Eat protein first, let the fats follow you, and then finish with carbs. Protein is the most satiating macronutrient, so starting with it means you’re less likely to overindulge on the rest of the meal. Celebrating is wonderful, but no one likes the feeling of excess.
One study even found that overfeeding with low protein intake increased fat mass but not lean muscle, while overfeeding with high protein intake increased the same amount of fat mass with extra lean muscle mass. Nobody wants to gain fat, but I would say that gaining muscle along with fat is better than gaining just body fat.
Eat gelatinous or collagen foods during the meal.
Both collagen and gelatin are rich in glycine, an amino acid that has been shown to lower blood glucose levels. If you’re going to eat a ton of carbs, a lot more than you usually eat, including some gelatinous foods (like gravy, bone broth, skin, and connective tissue) or even a few tablespoons of collagen It will improve your glucose response to food. It will also offset the load of methionine you get from muscle meat.
Drink red wine with your food.
Red wine during a large meal has several health benefits, in addition to tasting great and improving subjective enjoyment of the meal.
- It reduces the oxidation of blood lipids and the expression of inflammatory genes that normally occur after a large junk meal.
- It may reduce the increase in blood pressure that often occurs during overeating.
- May reduce markers of post-feast oxidative stress.
Early dinner
If you are going to eat a large amount of food, start the meal earlier than normal. Don’t eat a giant dinner at 10 pm and then expect to fall asleep and have a great 8 hours. You need at least 3-4 hours after eating to walk around, digest your food, and process everything internally before trying to sleep. Everything is digested better when you give yourself a few hours.
drink coffee after
A cup of coffee or espresso after a meal is a traditional way to stimulate digestion and calm the intestine. As for coffee as a post-meal digestif, no, I wouldn’t tell someone with a caffeine sensitivity to drink an espresso after a meal, especially in the evening. If you know that coffee keeps you awake, then don’t drink it or opt for decaf (which works almost as well). But if you can enjoy some coffee without it affecting your sleep, then after a big meal is the perfect time to do it. The bitterness helps you digest the food you just consumed.
Go for a walk afterwards
A 20 to 30 minute walk, or even just 10 minutes if that’s all you can do, immediately after a meal aids digestion and reduces the rise in both blood glucose and fatty acids that would normally occur. occurs after eating a large meal. Personally, if I eat a lot and sit down, I don’t feel very good. I feel better if I go for a walk afterwards. That’s part of the appeal of the walkability of a place like Miami. When Carrie and I go out to dinner, we walk there and back, and that post-dinner walk home is perfect for triggering the beneficial effects on blood glucose levels, free fatty acids, and digestion.
There you have it: ten things you can do before, during and after a large meal to reduce the negative effects of overeating. Don’t make big meals a habit, but if you’re doing it for a special occasion, here’s how you can make it work for you and not against you.
Thanks for reading everyone.
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