North Carolina
\nState Fair<\/a> for their favorite foods, most knowing they\u2019ll pay for it later. <\/p>\nUNC Health Registered Dietitian Shelly Wegman said there are a few
\nthings you can do to keep your stomach from feeling like you just stepped off
\nthe Tilt-a-Whirl.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor most people, it\u2019s about pacing yourself,\u201d Wegman said. \u201cMake
\nsure you get some protein in early because protein will help you feel fuller.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wegman said the key to leaving the fair with a settled
\nstomach is navigating the big three culprits: fat, salt, and sugar. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe really heavy, battered foods or in cheesy sauces \u2013
\nthose are the foods that are going to be a major fat bomb and that will
\nprobably upset your stomach at some point,\u201d she warned. <\/p>\n
Immediately heading for the funnel cake may sound
\nappetizing, but Wegman warned too many carbs too fast will lead to an unpleasant
\ncrash. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re going to digest very quickly, and you will continue
\nto overeat. Then you\u2019re going to get that crash because your blood sugars are
\ngoing up and down so much,\u201d Wegman explained. <\/p>\n
H2O also needs to be a staple in your fair food-and-beverage
\nlineup.<\/p>\n
\u201cHydration, that\u2019s a big one,\u201d advised Wegman. \u201cMake sure
\nyou’re staying hydrated, preferably with water. Bring a refillable bottle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Movement is another important part of helping your body
\ndigest your greasy choices, but the timing is key. <\/p>\n
\u201cSitting down and eating is going to let you be more mindful.
\nIf you\u2019re mindfully eating, you\u2019re going to chew more slowly and you\u2019re going
\nto savor every bite,\u201d the dietician said. <\/p>\n
She explained it\u2019s easy to overeat our fair favorites,
\nbecause it takes 15 minutes for the stretch receptors in the stomach to send
\nsignals to the brain that tell someone to stop eating. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve gotten really good at ignoring that signal. Pause a
\nminute between each bite and wait and see how satisfied you are,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
After eating, getting up and walking around can help control
\nglucose levels in your blood stream and promote healthy digestion. <\/p>\n
Wegman warned the popular plan of \u2018fasting before the fair\u2019 can
\ndo more harm than good. <\/p>\n
\u201cFasting a day before the fair does not do you any good. Your
\nstomach is going to shrink, and then it\u2019s going to be hit with all this food,
\nand it is going to stretch, and that\u2019s going to be very uncomfortable,\u201d she
\nexplained. <\/p>\n
Her advice: eat lighter in the days leading up to the fair,
\nbut don\u2019t go without food entirely. <\/p>\n
\u201cYour body runs on a 24-hour cycle. If you dump a huge
\namount of calories into it, it\u2019s going to have to deal with that,\u201d Wegman said.\n<\/p>\n
She continued, \u201cIt\u2019s dealing with fat, which is hard to digest.
\nIt\u2019s dealing with sugars, which are going to mess with your blood sugar. It\u2019s
\ndealing with salt, which can cause a lot of fluid retention.\u201d<\/p>\n
Probiotics also offer some benefits, but the dietician shared
\nthat you need to eat them for several weeks to truly see positive effects.<\/p>\n
For children, Wegman advises parents mange the portions they
\nare eating to prevent upset stomachs later. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really easy to give them the whole corn dog or the
\nwhole fried twinkie, and that\u2019s way more than a kid\u2019s portion,\u201d she noted. <\/p>\n
Lastly, for all fairgoers, Wegman said to remember \u2018sharing
\nis caring.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cYou really do want to share. Go for those foods that really
\nmean something to you and savor every bite,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fair food and healthy are not two things that are usually synonymous with one another. Tens of thousands…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":220697,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[49,48,84,890,106146,395],"class_list":{"0":"post-220696","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-lifestyle","12":"tag-north-carolina-state-fair","13":"tag-nutrition"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}