At this point in the Christmas We have exceeded the limits first of the intake of sugary foods, which are generally the most common, and of kilocalories. In all the meals we currently eat during these Christmas holidays, we consume up to almost … 6,000 kilocalories. This is three times more than what is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). I mean, it’s really outrageous. This is what the director of the Metódica center, expert in lifestyle medicine, Rafael Guzmán, says.
This nutrition and wellness specialist showed ABC the guidelines to somewhat mitigate the damage caused by this excess of sweets and bingeing. “We need to use strategies to standardize the parameters of blood sugarbecause it’s actually quite harmful. Especially in people who already have metabolic pathology – call it type 2 diabetes, call it cardiovascular problems,” he added.
In this task of recovery after excesses, this specialist assured that, for this, “the first thing we must do is not only focus on nutrition, but also begin to integrate a series of lifestyle habits that we know. regulate our metabolism“. This excess not only affects body weight, he insists, “but it significantly modifies the levels of glucose, cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood.”
The nutritionist warns that the consequences are particularly serious in people with a history of metabolic pathologies: “staying awake more, sleeping less and consuming high-calorie and very sugary foods constitute a real Molotov cocktail for the metabolism”.
This lifestyle doctor insisted on the need to return to lifestyle habits as quickly as possible. healthy life. Regulating sleep schedules is one of the first measures. “Sleeping at least seven hours in adults, and up to ten hours in adolescents, helps normalize blood sugar and lipids,” he explained. He also recommends bringing dinner time forward, ideally before 8:30 p.m., to respect biological rhythms.
Minimum physical exercise 15 minutes per day
According to Guzmán, with these basic strategies it is possible to see metabolic improvement “in just seven or ten days.” With food and rest, physical exercise plays a fundamental role after the holidays. The expert marked physical activity as a daily priority. “At a minimum, you need to do between 15 and 20 minutes of exercise every day,” specifies this specialist, recalling that it is not necessary to do intense training to reap the benefits.
He further emphasized the importance of unplanned physical activityknown as NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis), which includes everyday actions such as walking more, taking the stairs, shopping, or avoiding the elevator. “These are small gestures which, added throughout the day, increase calorie expenditure and reduce the risk of metabolic diseases,” explained the director of this specialized center in Córdoba.
Guzmán expanded on this question and pointed out that recent studies from 2024 and 2025 support this approach and highlight that breaking a sedentary lifestyle every 40 minutes can reduce the risk of mortality from any cause by up to 33%. “We are talking about a real tsunami in terms of prevention,” underlined this specialist.
Breaking a sedentary lifestyle saves lives
The nutritionist also warned about the impact of prolonged sedentary lifestyle, which he describes as one of the major current public health problems. “Today, a sedentary lifestyle kills more than tobacco. In Spain alone, it is estimated that some 150 people per day for this reason,” he stressed.
To combat this, Dr. Guzmán recommended applying the so-called “sitting break”: getting up every hour, moving for two or three minutes and doing simple exercises like squats, push-ups lean on the wall or simply walk. “This simple gesture helps normalize glucose and insulin levels, the alteration of which is the cause of obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular problems,” he explains.
Nutritionally, the expert advises reducing the number of daily intakes from five to three. “Our biology is ready to eat three times a day. Exceeding this figure predisposes us to metabolic pathologies,” he emphasizes. Eliminating snacks and bringing dinner earlier can improve both glycemic control and quality of sleep.
In this recipe book, this nutritionist noted from the recommendation to take coconut before meals, that this fruit has a very particular composition. It contains fiber that is very rich in a substance called lauric acid, which is a very healthy medium-chain fatty acid. “And this fiber will generate two things for us. First, it will force us to chew, because we have to chew the coconut chew it and chew it. Chewing inhibits a substance called ghrelin, which is a hormone we secrete when we are very hungry,” he explained.
In other words, when ghrelin rises in the blood, this doctor clarified: “this awakens us to an excruciating hunger. Chewing reduces ghrelin and reduces hunger. And what is also particular, in addition to being a wonderful antibiotic, is that it delays gastric emptying.”
What else should we do now? Well, this nutrition and wellness expert chose to “obviously prioritize protein-rich foodscomplete proteins, start eating at breakfast if possible, protein foods like eggs, like Iberian ham or any other protein food for breakfast. Plus some healthy fats like avocado fat or nut fat or salmon fat. If we introduce it at breakfast, it will allow us to go through the whole morning without even worrying about food.
“This will help us get rid of the mid-morning snack quickly,” he added. And then, obviously, “try to eat fruits that don’t have glycemic load very high.” That is, during these days after Christmas, try not to eat persimmons, dates or apples with cream. In addition to always introducing proteins with dinner and, in extreme cases of obesity, replacing them with protein shakes.
And of course, concluded this specialist, “let’s leave aside the puff pastries, the chocolates and all those things and let’s remember that Christmas actually lasts three days. That is to say Christmas Eve, Christmas and New Year,” he concludes.
About The Author
