We all know that Christmas is a time of indulgence and there's no better time to ditch the diet and enjoy all the trimmings of a delicious festive feast. However, new research from Wren Kitchens has revealed that the average British adult will consume nearly 6,000 calories on Christmas Day alone!
The survey revealed that we will each eat around 5,905 calories this Christmas – that's nearly three times the recommended daily intake for women and over twice the recommended amount for men. While many of us will be kicking off the festivities with a Bucks Fizz and enjoying some sweet treats, this means we'll have consumed nearly a day's worth of calories before Christmas lunch has even begun!
The average Brit consumes nearly 6,000 calories on Christmas Day
If you're thinking of going for a quick jog on Boxing Day to undo the damage, think again – to burn the 6,000 calories you would need to do around 21.5 hours of walking, or 13 hours of aerobics. Even a gym session would require you to spend over seven hours on the treadmill!
70 per cent of Brits admit that they simply don't worry about their food intake over the festive period, and although Christmas is a great time to make an exception, it's important not to make a habit out of it.
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70 per cent of Brits admit they don't worry about their food intake at Christmas
"Eating 6,000 calories each day would not only cause you to gain a stone every two weeks, but you’d also become incredibly ill," reveals Matt Plowman of Cardiff Sports Nutrition. "You’d risk becoming insulin resistant – this can happen within two days of eating meals with that amount of fat and is a precursor to diabetes. The body can also become overloaded with free radicals, causing inflammation within the body and damaging cells."
If you were to eat a full Christmas feast every day, you could gain almost 26 stone annually – the equivalent of eating 118 chicken nuggets or 26 Krispy Kreme doughnuts every day!
For more information head to wrenkitchens.com/festive-feast
