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Christmas dinners can cause arguments

Thu, 15 Dec 2005

It has been discovered by nutritionists that Christmas dinners with all the trimmings can actually cause mood swings.

This can be due to the amount of salt, sugar and fat in the traditional meal. A combination of all these can cause people to be snappy and irritable. This is not taking into account the number of calories each meal will contain.

Eating such a rich meal is fine if you are going to go running afterwards. But in reality many of us will settle down in front of the telly, so few calories will be burnt off. This may result in blood sugar levels rising significantly leaving some feeling restless, angry and short-tempered.

A recent survey by UKTV Food showed that six out of ten Britons said they had a row on Christmas Day and 73 per cent said that tensions were at their worst after the meal.

Helen Conn a leading food scientist and Dr Paul Clayton a nutritionist analysed the effects of the Christmas meal on the human body over a period of two months.

The results were that the amount of food that raises a person’s blood glucose level, the high calorie count and the low amounts of vitamins and minerals had an effect of the eater’s temper.

Miss Conn said, "Our review found that the traditional Christmas dinner leads to repeated rises and falls in blood sugar levels which can give rise to feelings of irritability and lead to arguments later on in the day.

"These effects are likely to be emphasised further by the salt/alcohol intake, the inevitable bloating and the seasonal psychological stresses that many people experience on the day."

As a result of the findings, researchers have come up with an alternative Christmas meal that keeps traditional ingredients while taking away the factors which induce irritability. Therefore roast potatoes are replaced with mashed artichokes, turkey is roasted in olive oil rather butter.

The best way to serve up Brussels sprouts is to slice them thinly and toss them in sesame oil and traditional stuffing to be made with chestnuts, herbs, lemon rind and black pepper.

Other changes that can be made, is to reduce the gravy rather than adding flour and to use unsweetened cranberry sauce.

When it comes to desserts use mini puddings that are made from dried fruit and served with light crème fraiche.

Dr Clayton said, "This new version of the Christmas dinner provides all day energy and the moderate calorie intake should leave the diner feeling physically comfortable and at ease.

"This meal will leave you in good shape to deal with the season’s psychological strains."