Christmas bloat? Key mistake when eating leftovers could cause embarrassing gut problems, experts warn
Experts have warned Brits with sensitive guts against warming up their their Christmas leftovers this festive season, due to potentially serious health risks.
Not only does heating food that’s already cooked raise the risk of nasty food poisoning, it can also trigger debilitating digestive symptoms — especially in those prone to bloating, dietitians have warned.
‘We can expect symptoms like bloating, gas and even pain,’ said Josie Porter, a British dietitian, who urged caution on TikTok.
She explained that many of the festive foods we have as leftovers are high in carbohydrates, like potatoes, yorkshire puddings, parsnips and stuffing.
When they are cooled and reheated, the chemical structure of the carbohydrates changes, making them ‘resistant’ to digestion — meaning they stagnante in the gut where they ferment and release painful and unpleasant-smelling gas.
‘If we consume resistant starch in large amounts it can cause use some gut symptoms because it ferments in our large intestine,’ explained Porter.
Dietitian Carrie Ruxton describes the impact of resistant starch on people’s guts as ‘unpredictable’.
‘Some people, for instance those with irritable bowel syndrome, find that resistant starch causes painful bloating and wind making their symptoms worse,’ she told MailOnline.
If you have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), or suffer from bloating in general, you may want to avoid reheating some leftovers to avoid an upset stomach. Stock image
‘Christmas probably isn’t a convenient time to find out if you’re one of these people, so perhaps steer clear of resistant starch over the holiday season.’
It’s estimated that around one in five people in the UK suffer irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), which can cause a range of unpleasant digestive symptoms like constipation, diarrhoea and pain.
Resistant starch is often referred to by diet gurus in positive terms — as it can aid weight loss.
This is because the delayed digestion prevents extreme spikes and drops in blood sugar that are associated with hunger pangs and frequent snacking.
What’s more, the slower the food passes through the digestive system, the more its chemicals can feed and benefit a host of healthy gut bacteria that naturally live in lower parts of our digestive system.
There’s another reason experts caution against heating up leftovers — or at least taking great care if you do.
Experts say Christmas can be one of the riskiest times for food poisoning, mostly due to improper storage and reheating of leftovers.
British food safety regulator, The Food Standards Agency (FSA), say Brits should consume properly refrigerated leftovers — those placed in the fridge within two hours of being cooked.
And if you must heat up your meal, the FSA say it must be steaming hot throughout.
Doing so avoids the sweet spot for bacterial growth that could cause food poisoning.
Most bacteria cannot grow in cold temperatures and are killed once food exceeds 63°C (145.4°F).
If food is only partially reheated, above 8°C (46°F) but below the 63°C (145.4°F) threshold, it can lead to any potentially dangerous bacteria present on the food growing rapidly in numbers in a short period.
This increases the odds of suffering from food poisoning, which includes infections like salmonella and campylobacter.
Food poisoning is a common ailment in Britain with an estimated nearly 2.5million cases recorded in the UK per year.
The vast majority of these are mild but for some people, like the elderly, it can be far more serious with an estimated 200 fatalities per year.
