With late December holidays just around the corner–your mouth is already watering in anticipation of savoring your favorite candies, pastries, dishes and snacks.

While treats and comfort foods can be bliss for a time–they have a way of giving you amnesia after the fact. When it comes time to munch again, you’ve forgotten that eating goodies from morning till night will comes with a price. You’ll be extremely gassy, bloated and laying on the couch with an urge to unbutton your pants and give your insides some room to breathe. You may spend more time looking at bathroom wallpaper than enjoying your family or holiday entertainment.

You know it’s going to happen every year, but you do it anyway. You try to fight back against indigestion by taking scores of antacids and “the pink stuff.” But those remedies only cover up the underlying issue—the lack of complete food component breakdown.

To aid in the digestive process and help the body ease the discomfort that holiday foods carry,  include a broad-spectrum digestive enzyme supplement with every meal. By adding to the digestive enzymes your body uses to break down proteins, carbohydrates, and fats, you’ll also help decrease the amount of gas and fatigue you may experience afterward. And if you love the relish tray, there are also digestive enzyme supplements derived from plant sources to help maximize the digestion of legumes (beans), cruciferous vegetables and high fiber foods.

Digestive enzyme supplements may be the best gift you’ll receive this holiday season–one that allows you to have your fruitcake—and not pay the price for eating it, too.

“Mom! Mom! Dad! Dad! Look! I see the golden arches! Can we stop there? Please? Pleeeeaaassee? I wanna play on the slide and get the new toy! Oh please-please-please-please-pleeaassseee?”

If you have kids, you’re undoubtedly bombarded with this request every time you take to the highway for a long road trip. If you’re trying to make good time and haven’t planned ahead, succumbing to the allure of the fast food kingdom is easy and convenient. You think, “The kids will be thrilled, the food is cheap, and it’s ready in less than 90 seconds. Why not?”

Of course, the “why not” comes later, when the kids are crabby, sweating from dehydration, and too groggy to play, “I spy with my little eye.” The “why not” finds you, too—out of it and with acid indigestion and gas. Your family is pleading with you, “Roll down the window, for the love of Pete.”

We all know that greasy and fatty fast food is at the forefront of turning the United States into one of the most unhealthy and obese countries in the world. But what can you do on the road to avoid the fast food trap, promote a healthy lifestyle for the kids and get to your destination in a timely manner?

Let’s rewind all the way back to before you left for the trip. WebMD suggests you take a cooler and stock it with these healthy, convenient, and easy to serve alternatives:

· Water, low-fat milk, or 100% juice. Take cooled milk and douse it over whole-grain cereals that come in single-serve cups.
· Low-fat cheese sticks
· Tubes or cartons of yogurt
· Cut veggies or washed baby carrots and cherry tomatoes. Compliment with a container of low-fat dip.
· Sliced bananas, apples, grapes and pears.

Other healthy and portable items:
· Peanut butter in a tube or a small tub to go with crackers or bread sticks
· Single-serve cans of tuna with easy-open tops and crackers
· Cans or cups of fruit packed in their own juice
· Dehydrated bean soups (get hot water at a roadside rest stop)
· Trail mix made from dried fruits, nuts, seeds, pretzels, or cereal with a few chocolate chips thrown in for good measure.

Get the most out of what you’re feeding them

Even healthier food choices can still pose digestive problems, including incomplete nutrient absorption and indigestion. Many moms and dads supplement their kids’ meals with digestive enzyme supplements. These all-natural products help break down all types of foods, helping the body to absorb food nutrients. On the road, this helps make for kids that are more awake, chipper, and less likely to say, “Pull over, I think I’m gonna be sick.” There’s nothing more beautiful than upholstery that retains its original color.

As far as the slide and playtime, be sure to pack a Frisbee and your baseball gloves. Stop at a rest area with a park and have a catch with your kids. After all, it’s what happens on the journey that childhood memories are made of.

What type of food do you crave? Do your favorite snacks or meals consist of fruits, fried foods, vegetables, sugar, nuts, meats, dairy or all of the above? How do you typically feel after you eat? Are you energized, relaxed, focused, sleeping on the couch or in the bathroom?

Regardless of what you love to eat, here’s four ways to get the most out of your food and not pay the price afterward.

1. Use time to your advantage. We’ve all heard the term portion control, but how easy is it to sit down on the couch after a hard day and eat just 10 potato chips or a tiny helping of spaghetti with meat sauce? Difficult, to say the least.

To avoid overeating—and the indigestion that can come with it—next time eat the small portion and then set an egg timer for 20 minutes. Research shows that it takes food approximately 20 minutes to reach your stomach and turn off the hunger signal to your brain. You’ll be amazed at how easy it is to say ‘no’ to another helping when you’re body says you’re full. If you don’t think this approach will work, promise yourself another helping when you set the egg timer, then wait and see. Chances are, you’ll change your mind.

2. Drink plenty of water throughout the day. When you eat foods high in sugar or sodium, you increase the amount of water the body needs to carry out the digestion and keep food moving through the intestines. If the food doesn’t contain enough natural water, constipation and slower digestion can be the result. If the food is so loaded with sodium or sugar that it has to draw water from the body, diarrhea and dehydration can be the result. Be sure to drink at least 64 fluid ounces of pure water per day.

3. Chew your food—no, really. The stomach doesn’t act like a high-powered blender. It takes a while for it to turn food into the creamy substance it needs before it can absorb nutrients and complete digestion. So it follows that the more broken down your food is when it reaches the stomach, the less effort the body has to put out to convert it into energy. Chewing each mouthful at least 20 to 30 times will also allow the enzymes in your saliva to start breaking down fats and carbohydrates right from the get go. If food sits in the stomach too long, a build up of gas can occur and cause reflux.

4. Take a digestive enzyme supplement. Because most of the foods we eat today are cooked or processed, they contain little or no natural enzymes that aid digestion. Ever wonder why you feel tired after eating? Your body is exhausted from trying to make up for the lack of enzymes, which do all the work.

Raw foods have increased in popularity because of their enzyme content. Supplemental enzymes can ease digestive stress on the body and help it better absorb nutrients from food. Enzyme blends that offer broad-spectrum digestive support, also include enzymes for problems that can stem from eating beans and vegetables or dairy.