Holiday eating and diet.

[HeadDoc]

So, in Western civilization and the USA in particular, we have two major holidays that center around huge meals. The data on meals and consumption indicate that the more variety (or courses) of food presented at a given episode or sitting will reliably predict higher caloric consumption. These holidays happen in our winter. Coincidence? There may be some primitive, neurological basis for the seasonal variation in caloric uptake.
The regulation of seasonal changes in food intake ... [J Neuroendocrinol. 2008] - PubMed result