Holiday Sugar, Inflammation, and Your Body

How Christmas Treats Can Quietly Sabotage Your Playing longevity

I know this seems trivial. Stupid even. But if it does, you are probably not suffering enough, or worried enough, to pay close attention to risk factors that are proven instigators of increased inflammation that may contribute to already existing problems. Eating too much at the holidays is not going to magically create arthritis in your fingers. Of course not. But if you have to play on the night after Christmas and your hands already hurt, watching how much you party may be a good idea. If you are worried about your ability to play 20 years from now, you may want to start being attentively proactive. For most musicians, pain and stiffness don’t come from one dramatic injury. They come from layers—practice load, sleep debt, stress, posture, travel, and yes, diet. The foods we eat can either reduce or increase inflammation throughout our bodies.

The holidays add a unique layer that many musicians underestimate: a sudden spike in sugar, alcohol, and inflammatory behaviors piled on top of an already stressed nervous system. KABOOM – A heavy load of inflammation could mean an extended period of feeling awful, and a need for recovery.

If you’re already dealing with hand pain, wrist stiffness, neck tension, shoulder irritation, or low-back fatigue, Christmas habits can quietly turn manageable issues into lingering problems that follow you straight into post-holiday rehearsals, gigging, and touring.

Let’s connect the notes.

Normal Daily Eating vs. Holiday Eating

Why the Holidays Hit Differently…

Normal Daily Patterns

Most musicians – even hobbyists – tend to fall into some rhythm:

  • Regular, predictable meals

  • Calculated caffeine intake

  • Occasional desserts or drinks, for sugar lovers, often more than “recommended” intake

  • Some hydration awareness, sometimes followed, sometimes ignored

Your nervous system and tissues can usually adapt to this baseline load.

Holiday-Specific Behaviors

The holidays are not just “more treats.” They are different daily patterns altogether:

  • Continuous grazing on cookies, candy, and baked goods

  • Sugary drinks + alcohol layered together

  • Late nights, sexy parties, poor sleep, and irregular meals

  • Less movement during the day, more sitting and travel

  • Higher emotional and social stress – think increased cortisol levels  (inflammation)

This combination amplifies systemic inflammation, fluid retention, and pain sensitivity—especially in tissues already under repetitive strain from playing an instrument.

What Excess Sugar and Alcohol Do to Your Body

From a neuromusculoskeletal perspective, high sugar and alcohol intake can:

  • Increase inflammatory signaling throughout the body

  • Promote tissue swelling, stiffness, and joint irritation

  • Disrupt sleep quality, impairing tissue recovery

  • Increase pain sensitivity through the nervous system

  • Dehydrate muscles, discs, and connective tissue

For musicians, this often shows up verbally around the dinner table as:

  • “My hands feel puffy and slow”

  • “My neck won’t loosen up no matter how much I stretch”

  • “My wrists ache sooner than usual”

  • “My endurance is gone after 20 minutes of playing”

  • If you are hanging out with musicians over the holidays, listen for these complaints… You’ll likely hear them! Then slap them with your two cents worth of knowledge!

    Dr. Lou and Eugene Hutz of Gogol Bordello

Common Problems Worsened by Holiday Habits

Hands & Fingers

  • Tendon irritation – sore low grade burning

  • Joint stiffness

  • Reduced fine motor control

  • Sugar-driven inflammation makes small joints feel swollen and less precise—bad news for fretting, bowing, keys, or percussion.

Wrists & Forearms

  • Tendinopathy flare-ups – sharper tendon pain, think tennis elbow or golfer’s elbow

  • Grip fatigue – weakling

  • Burning or aching with repetition

Neck & Shoulders

  • Increased muscle tone and guarding – manifests as a tight neck, upper back and shoulders

  • Reduced range of motion – whether while driving or turning to lock lips under the mistletoe

  • Headaches triggered more easily – tension headaches come from physical and mental stress accumulated in the neck and shoulders that then radiates into the head. Dehydration and other types of inflammation (from food) may make this worse

Low Back & Hips

  • Muscular, disc, low back “facet joint”  irritation from prolonged sitting and travel

  • Stiffness that alters playing posture – think Quasimodo

What You Can Do—Starting Now

This is not about perfection. It’s about damage control and prevention.

1. Put a Cap on Sugar (Not Zero—Just Intentional)

  • Choose one or two treats, not continuous grazing. Relish in your favorites, appreciate every bit

  • Pair sugar with protein or fat to “blunt spikes”

  • Avoid sugary drinks between meals. In fact, avoid them all the time. They are unnecessary  and unhealthy. If you have the willpower to practice your music regularly, you have the willpower to not succumb to sugar overloading

2. Hydration Is Non-Negotiable

  • Alcohol + sugar = dehydration

  • Add water before, during, and after holiday events

  • Aim for clear or pale urine—not guesswork

  • As important as hydration is, it’s not the end all of your problems during the holidays. I often find people blaming “hydration” for everything from their headaches, to back aches, to vertigo and foot pain. It may be contributing but it’s rarely the sole thing to focus on

3. Protect Sleep Like It’s a Gig

  • Sleep is when your body calms down

  • One late night of partying is manageable; several in a row compound pain and irritation

  • Even 30–60 minutes earlier bedtime matters

4. Keep Gentle Daily Movement Engaged

  • Short walks help with blood flow, oxygenation and breaking up holiday consumption activities

  • Light mobility for hands, neck, shoulders, hips

  • Avoid “holiday freeze” where nothing moves all day – move from the couch.

5. Adjust Playing Load Temporarily

  • Shorter sessions

  • More breaks

  • Take it easy and enjoy. Play “lightly” and don’t beat up your body like you normally do. People are more forgiving of your energy while playing over the holidays

        Dr. Lou with The Eagles of Death Metal

Why Addressing This Before It Becomes a Problem Matters

Many musicians wait until January, or until it “really hurts” when:

  • Pain is louder

  • Stiffness is locked in

  • Gigs and rehearsals resume at full volume

That’s the wrong time. It’s too late and now you need to do damage control. Prevention is the best medicine.

How does addressing inflammation during the holidays ultimately help:

  • Prevents flare-ups from becoming chronic

  • Preserves technique and endurance

  • Reduces injury risk when touring resumes

  • Keeps small problems from demanding big interventions later

A Final Word

You don’t need to fear Christmas cookies.
But you do need to respect cumulative load.

Your nervous system, joints, and soft tissues don’t care whether stress comes from a rehearsal, a flight, or a plate of cookies and ribbon candy chased with a scotch —they just add it up.

A little awareness now protects your playing later.

If your body is already whispering, don’t wait until it’s shouting—especially when the next round of gigs is right around the corner.

— Dr. Lou Jacobs, Portland, Maine

Dr. Lou Jacobs, Chiropractor and acupuncturist in Portland, Maine, has been working with and specializing in the health and performance of musicians of all types, for over 23 years. His work has been highlighted in Guitar Player Magazine, and his client list is extensive, having worked with some of the best horn players in the world today. Dr. Lou is always accepting new patients and offers tele-consulting for musicians outside of Southern Maine. Dr. Lou also works with families and is board certified in chiropractic care for children and  pregnant moms. Dr. Lou may be reached by calling (207) 774-6251 or by messaging his office manager, Sandra Escobar, at Sandra@DrLouJacobs.com.

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