Home cooks may be tempted to continue over-indulging after Christmas, even though their bodies have had quite sufficient over the last few weeks.

As a result, they should consider opting for high energy foods that are tasty and fulfilling in order to bridge the gap, suggested the Canadian Press.

Healthy sin foods are a great way to achieve this, the article said, as notoriously bad ingredients can be swapped for something less likely to sit on the hips.

Cookery book writer Dr Joey said: "You can have naturally sweet foods. But you have to take all foods with added sugar out of the diet immediately," she explained, noting that headaches and cravings may arise as a result of this.

However, by the end of the third day, Dr Shulman suggested that this will subside and the body will start to have cleaned itself out.

Spanish doctors claimed last week that having one pint of beer a day can have significant health benefits.