The Mystery of the Holiday Heart Syndrome

There is festive cheer all around us. Beautifully decorated marketplaces, restaurants with lip smacking menu especially curated for the holiday season. Cookies, sweets, baked goods, dishes with pleasing umami flavours, freshly concocted cocktails. Now all this may taste great on the receptors of our tongues but so immensely harmful for our heart. 

This overindulgence in foods rich in salts, fats and levels of ethanol has given birth to a new problem called the Holiday Heart Syndrome. It was Philip Ettinger who coined this term in 1978 after having discovered an immediate connection between alcohol consumption and arrhythmia. Binge drinking as it is often called, is the excessive consumption of ethanol, beyond permissible limits, causes heart attacks during the festive season. 

Let us discuss the side effects caused due to binge eating and drinking - 

·         Palpitations

·         Arrhythmia 

·         Atrial tachycardia 

·         Premature ventricular contraction causing the heart to weaken

·         Sweating and anxiety 

·         Stroke

·         Liver cirrhosis

·         Heart failure

Healthy substitutes for your intense cravings - 

·         Substitute your usual aerated beverage or high concentrated alcoholic drinks with coconut water, freshly squeezed juices or even some hot herbal teas to keep yourself hydrated.

·         Instead of eating a bag full of salty chips, munch on some roasted mixed nuts, freshly cut cucumber slices, kale chips or air popped popcorn for that perfect crunchy texture.

·         For your intense sweet cravings go for slices of apple sprinkled with cinnamon covered in peanut butter & unsweetened dark chocolate. One can also indulge in sweetened yogurts with some mixed berries,, oatmeal with nut butters can also be consumed for that healthy dose of good fats.

For more tips on maintaining heart health and avoiding the risks of the holiday heart syndrome, reach out to the Nutrition and Dietary department at Sohana Hospital Mohali, as they guide you towards what foods help your body feel best, with services offering food management, clinical nutrition and illness specific diets. Your heart is a beautiful place; make sure you are putting the right things in your body to maintain that. Detect your heart disease symptoms timely. Our team of cardiologists in Chandigarh, Sohana Hospital are exceptional in their field and leave no stone unturned to provide you with the best cardiology treatment for your illnesses.