End of year partying all the time, how to stay healthy?

Tet is approaching, along with the bustling year-end parties with a menu of excess nutrition and alcohol, sometimes we forget that continuous parties can affect our health.

The end of the year is the time when many parties are held - Photo: NAM TRAN

How to maintain a healthy lifestyle during this party overload?

Energy overload, alcohol overload

For over a week, Mr. Bui Van Thang (32 years old, Hanoi) has been skipping meals at home to attend year-end parties. He shared that in addition to the company's year-end party, there are also year-end parties for groups of friends, football teams, relatives... and his year-end party schedule lasts until the 29th of Tet.

Mr. Thang said that although year-end parties bring joy and relieve stress, gout and stomach pain have made him feel his health has declined these days.

"Normally at home I limit spicy, hot foods, foods rich in protein..., but at parties it is very difficult to abstain. Therefore, in the past few days, gout in my feet started to appear, I had to take painkillers to cope. Because of work and relationships, it is also difficult to refuse such fun.

Mr. Binh (40 years old, Hanoi) has also been addicted to alcohol for the past week. Having no underlying medical conditions, Mr. Binh is quite comfortable drinking alcohol during parties.

"During the day, I still go to work at the company, and at night I "plan" to celebrate the New Year's Eve with friends and partners. Because I drink a lot of alcohol, every morning I wake up feeling very tired, I don't even want to go to work, I'm always lethargic. However, I don't know what to do because I only have one chance to meet people once a year," said Mr. Binh.

At the end of the year, parties are held to look back on the past year, show gratitude to those who have helped, or simply meet each other after a long time, but many people worry about their health.

Which food groups should be noted at the year-end party?

According to Dr. Nguyen Trong Hung - National Institute of Nutrition, for year-end meals, the menu is mostly dishes rich in protein and fat, so the energy from the party can be many times higher than the need, negatively affecting health.

"Excess fat intake increases blood triglycerides, total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. These are factors that increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, and coronary artery disease.

Especially for those who already have underlying diseases such as high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, overeating will make the disease worse. Therefore, people with underlying diseases need to pay attention to limiting food groups to avoid affecting their health," said Dr. Hung.

Dr. Nguyen Thi Lam, former deputy director of the National Institute of Nutrition, said that one of the "disasters" of year-end parties is excessive alcohol consumption. The most obvious consequence after alcohol abuse is that stimulants can cause mental disorders and paranoia.

In particular, long-term alcohol use will weaken the immune system and reduce the body's resistance. Drinking too much alcohol will cause liver-related diseases, nervous system degeneration, poisoning, stomach diseases and heart diseases.

The World Health Organization recommends that if you drink alcohol, you should only drink in moderation: men no more than 3 units of alcohol per day, women no more than 2 units of alcohol per day. To avoid exceeding the safe limit of health, you need to know how to drink in moderation.

Control yourself during party season

According to doctors, the most important thing to stay healthy at the party is to control yourself. Each person has a different health background, and may have different underlying diseases. Therefore, only you can understand your health condition and control it so as not to harm your health.

Dr. Hung also recommends that people with high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, gout, etc. should pay attention to their diet according to the doctor's recommended diet. At the party, choose foods that you can eat.

For normal people, without underlying diseases, it is advisable to increase the variety of foods in the party. You should increase green vegetables, fruits, eat enough nutritional groups, and should not eat too much.

In addition, experts also recommend that when attending a party, you should not focus too much on eating and drinking, but instead socialize and talk. This will help you eat less and also help burn energy.

You should also not be hungry before attending a party because when you are hungry, you will not be able to control your eating, leading to overeating. In addition, you also need to maintain physical exercise to help your body consume excess energy and increase resistance.

Tips to avoid getting drunk during party season

Sharing his own experience of drinking alcohol at parties, Mr. Thanh (35 years old, Hanoi) said that for about 5 years now he has not gotten drunk at year-end parties. "In fact, nowadays at parties, people behave quite civilly when offering alcohol. Of course, according to Vietnamese social culture, a glass of wine is still needed to make the atmosphere more cheerful.

But you can drink the first 2-3 cups, then "sip" and ask permission not to drink. Or you can drive yourself there to have an "excuse" not to drink alcohol because you still have to drive home. In fact, I think that if you can control yourself, you can do it," Thanh expressed.

Besides, many people think that instead of organizing parties at the end of the year, groups of friends and partners can meet up for drinks, which both reduces the cost of parties and is good for health.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/cuoi-nam-tiec-tung-lien-mien-giu-suc-khoe-ra-sao-20250120075045405.htm