Holiday excess might be inevitable,
but it doesn't have to be bad for you.
Here's how.
Hey this is Annie Gaus guest hosting for D News.
One of the best things about the holiday season
is the excuse to sit around and eat tons of good food,
drink tons of nog, and just do nothing,
which is part of the reason why it's so common to pack
on a couple pounds during the holidays.
According to a 2000 study by the New England
Journal of Medicine, people can gain an average
of just over a pound over the fall and winter.
And not surprisingly, even short term periods
of overeating and inactivity can have negative effects
on your blood sugar and metabolism.
But don't worry, there is good news.
A new study shows that exercise can counteract
those negative effects, even if you
are gaining a little bit of weight.
Physiologists from the University of Bath
tested groups of young men, having
them consume more calories than normal,
the equivalent of quality overeating.
One was sedentary.
The other exercised on a treadmill for 45 minutes a day.
And in just over a week, the inactive group
saw a whole range of negative effects,
like a decrease in blood sugar control
and changing gene expression in fat cells
linked to poor metabolism.
But the exercising group showed normal blood sugar levels
and less undesirable gene activity.
But what's interesting is that they
matched the excess calories according
to your level of activity.
They had the active group consume even more.
So everyone was at a similar level of excess.
So the implication of the study is
that even if you're stuffing your face with ham and fruit
cake during the Christmas week, exercise doesn't just
burn off some of those calories.
It can also have a protective effect
against some of the bad things that can happen in your body.
So in summary, eat, drink, be merry,
don't forget to move sometimes, and more importantly
have fun over the holidays.
As always, you get in touch with the show
at Twitter and Facebook at D News.
And you can also find me on Twitter at AnnieGaus.
Thanks for watching, and see you next time.