DoctorOz: Beat Holiday Bloat with Dr. Oz's Expert Tips

I get it, I get it, you want to enjoy your holiday feast, not count calories and fat grams. And I'm not going to be Scrooge, but I do want you to know what happens to your body when you overeat. So think of me as your Ghost of Christmas Past, so that this year you don't have to experience the bloated, uncomfortable need to unbutton your pants right after eating. So take a look at this video. Ooh, Tina, is that our audience? Come on up here, Tina. Come up here, Tina. I see you there. Hi. How are you? Great. That looked familiar to you, didn't it? Uh-huh. That was Tina eating at a recent holiday meal. So what was going on there? I was chowing down. You're chowing down. Yes, I saw that. So let me tell you. Let me explain what's going on in your body when that happens. I'm going to walk you through some simple little tips we can all do together. And this applies to everybody, because I know we all chow down for the holiday. So come over here. So let's go back to that video of you, OK? You're eating your food, but this is what I see. As you bring that fork up to your lips, as voluptuous as they are, inside, here's what's happening. You've got food coming in there. The saliva's mixing with it. That saliva, your tongue is mobilizing it. There's the teeth up there. And all that mobilization starts to turn the starch and the sugar as you digest it. It goes down your esophagus, winding its way down through there. This bolus of food with saliva on it now falls into the stomach, and the stomach, it hits the acid, and it dissolves and stops. This is the part that I want to emphasize. This wonderful, gorgeous organ called the stomach has to do something very important to you. It secretes hormones from the surface, that's the wall of the stomach, secretes hormones that go to the brain and tell the brain, hey, we ate. We're not hungry anymore. Hey, that was really good. Oh, that was really good. Whatever message it sends to the brain is really important, because it tells the brain that because you've eaten, you can stop eating. Now when you eat the way I saw in that little video, attacking the food, right? That's my favorite. Yeah, sure. I picked it for a reason. Right? It starts to push us over the edge. So one of the most important things we can do at holiday time is just to slow things down. These are simple things you can all do during the meal to eat less, and you're not going to even realize you're making a difference in your life. I'll point out three. Okay? Okay. Topic number one. I want you to have one extra serving of vegetables when you're sitting at the meal. So get your first regular plate. Eat what you're going to eat. Everyone's got a pledge to this. Your second plate is going to be a plate of vegetables, and you're going to eat that plate of vegetables before you get seconds. All right? Step number two. I happen to love sweet potatoes. I think you do also. That's my favorite. Where's the marshmallows? Yeah. Marsh that down. Now you're pushing over the edge. Radical person you. But here's the problem. I usually take a big spoon to this, as I saw you were with a fork. Use a teaspoon. The teaspoon forces you to eat smaller, and you may not believe that, but people who use smaller spoons, and there have been studies on this, they will eat 15% less food. Did you see how small my plate was? I didn't know. I didn't see the plate. The plate was empty. The food was gone off it. Yes. And finally, mellow music. Now mellow music can help set an appropriate pace for your food. You will eat at the rhythm of your music, just like you dance at the rhythm of your music. It's subconscious. It's going to happen. You like this? Mm-hmm. It's going to take you over there. If you were to dance after the meal, you'd be better off. Okay. All right, come over here now. We'll get back to dancing. Okay. So weight gain is only one of the issues. Okay. Right? And we all suffer from that, but there's another problem we have, and that comes down to gas and bloating. Mm-hmm. It's a little. Oh. Right? Yes. Okay. So that's- All about that. Movie animation for it. Now you've eaten so fast, the food went through your stomach. See that green stuff? That is undigested food. It goes down into your colon. Now in this very rapidly digested food, you unfortunately have lots of food particles, including fats. And these fats are attacked by bacteria, these blue things. The bacteria sit on top of the different foods you haven't digested, and as they give off their gas, which they will do as they digest you, you start to get bigger, and see that belly going up? Uh-huh. What's going on here? Uh-huh. What is going on there? I was bloated. Look at this. All right? That was a big meal. I have evidence. Yeah. Now, that gas will eventually be emptied from you. It may not be so pleasant, but it will come out. Okay. So what I want to explain now is what's really happened. Okay. So come stand here for a second. Okay. Okay? Okay. These are your intestines. Uh-huh. All right? And your intestines have food that travels into them. This is the esophagus. You hold the esophagus. I'm going to hold fat from the food that you're eating. So go ahead and drop some food in there. Okay? Now, when you eat fast, go on. You're eating fast. You're a fast eater. Oh, I love that. All the food goes into the intestines. It's close to it. Poetic license. Good. Stop. Now, all that food travels to the intestines, and because it hasn't been digested in the stomach, in the mouth, in the places it's supposed to, you haven't chewed it up readily, it ends up in that intestinal system where the bacteria ate it, as I showed you the animation. So we're going to change that up a little bit. Instead of eating fast, we're going to have you slow down. Do those topics we just showed up before. Simple little things. Instead, hold this like this. Now, I want you to go ahead and drop some food down there. You're eating slowly. Oh! Slows down a little bit. And then, a little bit slower. And then, keep going. And soon, the food just stays in the intestinal system until it's fully digested. Can you all see that? Yeah. Okay. Now, as it's fully digesting, you won't get the gas, because only the food that gets into the intestinal system, undigested, is where the bacteria can eat it. This is one of the best ways to prevent the bloating that makes you miserable. Okay. Now, there's one last little tip I want to ask you. You talked about dancing before. I want you, 15 minutes after the meal, everyone's a pledge now, guys, after the big holiday meals, for 15 minutes, I want you dancing around, wrapping the Christmas tree, do whatever you wish to do. Is that fair? Mm-hmm. You can do that. And at the end of the day, you won't be bloated. Thank you very much. No feast is complete without cocktails. For this season, you can zip yourself skinny with Dr. Mixology. And there is such a thing, Dr. Mixology is here with healthy holiday cocktails. You will not want to miss this. Thank you for watching. Don't forget to subscribe and turn on notifications so you never miss out on new videos to live the good life.