You don’t want to be dozing off before the end of the day
There are few days in the year which have more meticulous planning going into them than Christmas Day, so you’d best not spoil things by sending yourself into a ‘food coma’ and missing a big chunk of it.
You simply can’t doze off before the day is done, there’s a new Wallace and Gromit to watch as well as the very definitely final episode of Gavin and Stacey to get through.
Your Christmas dinner might be the centrepiece of the day but you ought to be careful not to load of on things which will leave you dozing off before the good telly begins.
According to Wired, the finger of blame has long been pointed at too much turkey as the cause of this fatigue, as apparently it’s full of a chemical called tryptophan which makes a person sleepy, but it’s a case of misaligned blame here.
Shouldn’t have filled up on spuds guys. (Getty Stock Photo)
While turkey does have some of the sleepy chemical, it’s not exactly dripping with it any more than other dishes of meat, and the experts say what’s really sending you into a food coma are all those carb-heavy side dishes.
Food and nutrition scientist Dr Emma Beckett said that a food coma was a real thing and the high carb dishes you might be serving up at Christmas dinner were the real cause.
She explained that carbs need insulin to process and this might affect other parts of your body with the consequence of making you drowsy and leaving you in the dreaded food coma.
Your eyelids might be feeling incredibly heavy before Wallace has even munched his first cheese-laden cracker of the new movie and you’ll know that’s you done for another Christmas.
Even if everyone is blaming excessive consumption of turkey for the food coma, it’s really those spuds, sauces and side dishes that should bear the burden of blame.
.jpg)
This man has just eaten roughly his own body weight and is feeling a little bit sleepy. (Getty Stock Photo)
In general, the vast amounts you’re likely to consume over Christmas is part of the food coma phenomenon, as you’ll be tucking into plates of food piled high with gluttonous portions.
That’s going to make you feel heavy and sluggish, with your sofa beckoning as it makes many promises of comfort.
While one of the possible solutions to ward off the food coma might be to eat less, there have also been warnings about keeping leftovers around for too long.
You’re unlikely to get through the entire dinner on the day itself, especially if you’re trying to avoid overeating, but you ought not to leave it too long before chowing down on what’s left over.Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Photos
Topics: Christmas, Science, Food And Drink, Health, TV, Gavin And Stacey
Joe Harker
Advert
Advert
AD
Advert
.png)
Updated 16:34 11 Dec 2024 GMTPublished 14:09 9 Dec 2024 GMT
Brits issued warning as supermarket cutoff dates for Christmas food shop are getting closer
Hurry if you don’t want to miss out on turkey
This article contains affiliate links and LADbible Group might make a commission on anything purchased.
The Christmas countdown is on and shoppers have been urged to get their orders in, as the cutoff date for the festive food shop looms.
With just weeks to go until the big day, UK supermarkets have released their final delivery and pick-up dates to make sure us Brits don’t miss out on anything, whether you’re looking forward to the turkey and roasties or have your eye on the mince pies.
So, what do you need to know? Scroll down to find out the final Christmas food shop delivery and click-and-collect dates for top supermarkets including ASDA, Iceland, M&S, and Tesco. Good luck.
Getty/Jonathan Knowles
Tesco
- You have until 11.45pm the day before your delivery date to make any final changes to your order
- You must book a food delivery or pick-up slot before 24 December and this must be secured by checking out within two hours of booking your time
- Festive food is available for collection or delivery between 20 December to 23 December
- Final order date: 14 December 23.45pm
Waitrose
Key delivery dates listed below:
- Christmas food made-to-order items: 20 to 24 December
- Christmas cakes: 5 to 24 December
- Final order date for turkey: midnight, 15 December
Morrisons
- All shoppers must spend a minimum of £25 for online deliveries
- Final click-and-collect order date for turkey: 16 December
ASDA
- Over one million home delivery and click and collect slots will be available in the week leading up to Christmas.
- Final pre-order date for turkey (delivered or available via click and collect between 21 and 23 December): 11.59pm, 22 December
Getty/Sam Edwards
Sainsbury’s
- You have until 11pm the day before your delivery date to make any final changes to your order
- Festive food is available for collection on 22, 23, 24 December
- You can only book one delivery slot per person between 18 and 24 December
- Final order date: 16 December 11.59pm
Marks & Spencer
- Most products will stay fresh until Boxing Day regardless of pick-up
- Final order date for hampers: 22 December
- Final collection date for festive food: 24 December
Amazon Fresh
Christmas turkeys are available to buy online from 13 December for delivery from 19 December. Amazon Fresh online delivery slots are released six days in advance, including for Christmas deliveries, providing slot availability later into the festive season than many other supermarkets.
Amazon Fresh Online final orders:
- Order by 6pm on Christmas Eve (24 December) for same-day delivery by 10pm.
- Order by 8pm on Christmas Eve (24 December) for delivery on Boxing Day (26 December) from 12pm.
Amazon Fresh stores will be open from 8am-9pm on Christmas Eve (except Holborn, Moorgate and Liverpool Street which will be closed on 24 December).
- All Smart Pass holders have now been invited to book their Christmas delivery slot
- The majority of remaining slots have been released and all customers are able to view which slots are available to them via the usual slot booking page on site
- Order editing cut-off times vary and are communicated to each customer directly
Iceland
Iceland is offering Christmas food delivery slots six days in advance*:
- Slots available from 11/12: Delivery on 16/12
- Slots available from 12/12: Delivery on 17/12
- Slots available from 13/12: Delivery on 18/12
- Slots available from 14/12: Delivery on 19/12
- Slots available from 15/12: Delivery on 20/12
- Slots available from 16/12: Delivery on 21/12
- Slots available from 17/12: Delivery on 22/12
- Slots available from 18/12: Delivery on 23/12
- Slots available from 19/12: Delivery on 24/12
*Click-and-collect is unavailable for Christmas bookings and delivery slots are available daily up to 24/12Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/ svetikd/ John Keeble
Topics: Christmas, Food And Drink
Danielle Fowler
Advert
Advert
Advert
Updated 12:43 23 Dec 2024 GMTPublished 12:39 23 Dec 2024 GMT
Experts warn against Christmas favourite drink that could leave you with more hangxiety than others
You might want to think twice before pouring yourself a glass of certain beverages over the festive season
If you’re hoping to avoid the dreaded ‘hangxiety’ over the festive period, you might have to avoid drinking a popular Christmas tipple.
Being consumed by a feeling of uneasiness while intermittently running to the bathroom to throw up just isn’t very merry at all, is it?
So even though it might pain you, it might be best to swerve certain alcoholic beverages over the next few weeks so that you don’t miss out on any holiday fun.
First things first, for those who have never been struck down by a crippling bout of hangxiety, let us fill you in on what it is.
It doesn’t take a genius to work out that it’s a combination of the words ‘hangover‘ and ‘anxiety‘, which when put together, make quite the formidable duo.
People often spend the day after a big night out feeling worried, on edge, irritable and unable to relax – while also dealing with the physical side effects of boozing.
You might have a banging headache, feel nauseous, or find yourself sweating and shaking as your body tries to expel all of the loopy juice you drank the night before.
Now just imagine going through this hellish ordeal while your nearest and dearest are calling round to drop off presents – or god forbid, if it happened on the Big Day itself.
Unless you want to end up like this over Christmas, choose your booze wisely (Getty Stock Image)
According to this expert, drinking certain types of alcohol puts you at a higher risk of being plagued by hangxiety the following day.
Although all booze is going to do its fair share of damage, Lisa Gunn says that drinking one specific beverage is simply asking for trouble over the festive season.
To start off, the Mental Health Prevention Lead, who works for Nuffield Health, explained how hangxiety works.
“Alcohol is a depressant that can initially produce a calming effect,” she told HuffPost UK.
“When this wears off, we typically see a rebound effect where anxiety levels spike.
“This is partly because alcohol disrupts the balance of neurotransmitters and chemical messengers in the brain.”
This disruption affects the GABA chemical in your brain – which relaxes you – and decreases it, so you will feel more excited and anxious.
So, now all the science stuff is out of the way, what drinks put you in danger of being doomed to a day of hangxiety?
Gunn explained that although ‘different drinks react differently in different people’, there are a few tipples which are known troublemakers.
But it seems that for the most part, the higher the alcohol percentage of the booze you are supping, the worse you will feel the next day.
You might want to take it easy on the red wine if you want to avoid the dreaded hangxiety (Getty Stock Image)
Drinking spirits can spike your blood alcohol level, Gunn said, which ‘can lead to more pronounced rebound anxiety’ the next morning.
But it’s the red wine you really need to watch out for over Christmas.
It’s an alcoholic beverage which we often gift to our family and friends over the holidays, while also being very hard to resist when a bottle of it is popped open at a soirée.
Some people reckon a full-bodied bottle of plonk is the perfect thing to wash down a turkey dinner with too, so it’s always flying about in December.
But because red wine contains tyramine and histamines – which are biogenic amines that are commonly found in foods – it can often leave boozers feeling very rough.
Gunn said that these components ‘make red wine more likely to trigger anxiety in susceptible people’.
She also warned people to be wary of how many cocktails they sip, as the sugary drinks often cause your blood alcohol and blood sugar to rise and fall throughout the night.
However, you will be glad to hear there are some drinks which don’t come with a hangxiety disclaimer, though.
Brits can happily chug down beer and lager, as their low alcohol content means you can guzzle them over a longer period of time.
Gunn says this can ‘help with rebound anxiety’, as you aren’t experiencing as many highs and lows, like you do with other tipples.
But at the end of the day, the mental health expert says it all still comes down to ‘how much we consume’.
So eat, drink and be merry – just dodge spirits and red wine like the plague if you want to have an hangxiety-free holiday.Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images
Topics: Christmas, Food And Drink, Health, Mental Health, Alcohol
Olivia Burke
Advert
Advert
Advert
Published 15:30 13 Dec 2024 GMT
UK bin man explains what they really want for Christmas and it’s not cheap booze or chocolates
This bin man decided to do Brits a favour and let people know what they really want at Christmas
The gift giving season is finally upon us, and presents are flying about left, right, and centre.
But while you’re stewing over what to buy your family and friends, don’t forget to have a long hard think about what your bin man would like too.
It’s easy to feel generous after a few Eggnogs during the festive period, and our list of people to buy for often ends up growing a lot longer than we would have intended.
Whether you’re purchasing a bottle of bubbly for your kid’s teacher or nipping to your neighbours with a tub of Christmas chocolates, giving to others really does feel good.
However, you might want to be a bit more picky when it comes to selecting a gift for your local refuse collectors, as this bloke says they’re sick of being palmed off with certain items each year.
This bin man has revealed what gifts they are really hoping for off residents at Christmas (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
A fella who dubs himself ‘The No1 Bin Man’ on TikTok revealed what his colleagues are really hoping for when kind locals offer them a prezzie in December.
The UK-based social media user, who boasts 6,918 followers, responded to a woman who enquired about what people in the waste industry ‘would prefer’.
She explained she usually just settles on a box of chocolate to give to her bin men, but suspects they might want something a bit more exciting.
So, the ‘No1 Bin Man’ decided to come to the rescue and be brutally honest about what they think of generic gifts.
He kicked off by explaining that they don’t actually expect people to go to any expense, but there is something which would tickle their fancy if the opportunity arose.
The TikToker explained there is something that he really doesn’t like being gifted (TikTok/@theno1.binman)
The TikToker said: “Can I have a bacon sandwich or a cup of coffee? Sorted, Merry Christmas.”
Clearly enamoured by the Christmas spirit, he then decided to reveal what it is bin men ‘don’t want’ from local residents.
He continued: “I’ll tell you what I don’t want – Fosters.
“No one drinks Fosters! You don’t want it, that’s why you give it to us.
“But most of the time people just give us stuff which they don’t want anyway, so we’re not fussed. We’ll take it.
“But a bacon sandwich would be lovely, thanks!”
It seems a lot of people might have been stuck on what to get their bin men, as the bloke’s video ended up going viral and racked up over 316,000 views.
Social media users flooded the comment section with their thoughts on the bloke’s gifting advice, while others shared their own experiences.
One said: “I put out mince pies, cake and Christmas box last year and they ignored it!!”
Another wrote: “We always buy a box of Carlsberg and they seem happy.”
A third laughed: “I gave my bin man a box of chocolates and got ‘it’s the thought that counts’.”
A fourth joked: “I have an agreement with my bin men…I’ll get them a lovely Christmas gift when they start putting my bin back where they found it.”
Sounds like we better get those frying pans on, eh?Featured Image Credit: TikTok/theno1.binman/Getty Stock Images
Topics: Christmas, Food And Drink, TikTok, UK News, Viral
Olivia Burke
Advert
Advert
Advert
Published 13:00 10 Dec 2024 GMT
Ruth Jones hints at worrying fate for Gavin & Stacey character in upcoming Christmas finale
Jones has given a worrying hint
Ruth Jones, the co-creator and star of Gavin and Stacey as the iconic Nessa, has given a worrying hint as to the fact of the characters in the upcoming Christmas finale.
The final ever episode, titled Gavin and Stacey: The Finale, is set to release in a 90 minute long special on Christmas Day this year.
Jones and co-star James Corden are writing the final episode, with the entire main cast set to return.
The finale is coming later this month (James Corden via Instagram)
The focus for many will be on all the unsolved mysteries left from the series.
Will Nessa and Smithy get married?
Are Gavin and Stacey going to ride out the finale and end up happily ever after, after 17 years of marriage?
Do we ever find out what happened on that bleeding fishing trip?
Though Jones hasn’t given a hint to any of the above, she has given a worrying hint at what might happen instead.
She said in an interview that the episode would pick up bang on from where the last episode left off, with Nessa proposing to Smithy.
When asked whether she was ready to say ‘Goodbye’ to the characters, however, she said on Zoe Ball’s BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show: “It’s strange, James and I have always felt, they really do exist. It’s not like they’re dying, well… Watch the finale.”
One possibility is that if Smithy says no to Nessa’s proposal, who knows what she might do to him (BBC)
This elicited a shocked reaction from Ball and her studio who audibly gasped, with her saying: “Oh gosh, the whole console have got their hands on their mouth. What?”
She went on to say: “We feel like they still exist, for us, they’re carrying on living their lives in Barry, or in Billericay it’s just that we are not party to what goes on in their life anymore.”
Joanna Page who plays Stacey said of the finale: “Being on set for the last time with everybody for the last day was traumatic.
“I burst out crying again and again. I just alternated between hysterically crying and hysterically laughing.
Page is returning to acting for the finale (BBC)
“It just felt like it was such a huge journey that was ending.”
James Corden meanwhile said: “Gavin & Stacey is just a huge part of my life, it changed my life in every way.
“The thing it means to me most is my friendship with Ruth. To have an idea with a friend in a hotel in Leeds 20 years ago and then be sat here today with what it’s become.
“If you think about it too much you could really just start crying all the time. I love her so much and I’m so proud of what we’ve done.”
Gavin and Stacey: The Finale will air on BBC One on Christmas Day.
For the full Christmas Day BBC One schedule click here.