So first, we're going to go through foods to avoid and then how to manage those big holiday dinners or parties. So first, what to avoid, alcohol. Now, I'm not saying zero alcohol. It's fine to indulge a little over the holidays. Frankly, that's the time you should indulge.

When you're at a party and you're surrounded by friends and family and having a really good time. Every study around alcohol, and especially those coming out of the blue zones, the areas of the world where people live the longest, the healthiest, even over a hundred years old, those studies say that those people drink. But they do it when appropriate and socially.

So when you're not at a party or being social, I'd recommend none, zero, period. Why? Well someone recently told me about breadcrumbs. You see every action has an opposite reaction.

So you get home, you're stressed from shopping and you pour yourself a drink and you're doing it just to take the load off. Then another, because hey, it's the holidays. Maybe even another one or two or more. Let's look at what happens. You sleep poorly, you wake up feeling terrible and probably a little full of regret and guilt. You may even wake up late which completely goes against what I talked about in the first video on how to reduce stress during the holidays. 

Too much also causes inflammation which I won't go into too much here but just know, too much inflammation is the Darth Vader to your brain health and your memory. It's that evil enemy. So relax and have fun at the party, not three days before. I promise it'll make the party that much more fun that way and give you something to look forward to.

Next we have the next one that is so hard to avoid at the holidays and that is sugar. Sugar is also super inflammatory. It's also as addicting as cocaine. Actually, we have the certified memory and cognitive health coach on our staff that specializes in addiction and do you know what she counsels on more than any other drug? Sugar. Yeah, it's that addictive.