healthy eating
The holiday season is not the best time for healthy eating. It’s usually a key contribution to New Year’s weight loss resolutions. However, it doesn’t have to be. You can make a great, seasonal feast without completely destroying your diet. Good food helps you live a longer life, not a shorter one, and health food deserves a place on the holiday table. Here are five tips to help make your holiday dinner a healthy one.
White Meat for Healthy Eating
Choosing a nice, fatty ham for your holiday dinner centerpiece is an easy way to pack a lot of flavor into your meal. Unfortunately, it’s also an easy way to boost blood pressure and increase your chances of developing heart disease. Choosing a turkey, or other poultry options, can be just as flavorful with the right seasonings. They are also much healthier. Turkey is one of the leanest meats available, and is often considered a healthier food alternative to red meat.
Salt Isn’t the Only Seasoning
When you are seasoning your meal, make sure to invite the entire spice rack, and not just the salt shaker. A little salt can boost flavor, but it adds significantly to your chance of heart disease. It also plays a chief role in water retention and other major health problems. If you do use salt, try to use sea salt, which is both healthier and far more natural.
Hide Vegetables in Other Dishes
A good bowl steamed broccoli will send all of the children at the table running in horror. It might send a few adults away with them. These dishes are incredibly healthy, but they aren’t the only ways to get vegetables onto the table. You’d be surprised how easy it is to hide vegetables in other courses. By boiling and blending vegetables, they become indistinguishable from other elements in sauces and mixed dishes. You can include them in stuffing, pasta dishes, and even baked dishes with enough forethought.
Include Fresh Fiber
While adding a big bowl of salad may not seem seasonally appropriate, good, raw fiber added to your meal goes a long way in preventing digestive struggles later on. It also helps your body absorb the nutrients from the rest of your food. What’s more, fiber makes you feel fuller, faster, so you’ll be less tempted to go back to the table for seconds and thirds.
Aim for Whole Grains
If your holiday dinner includes bread, rolls, rice, or other starches, remember to choose whole grains over bleached, white bread and white rice. Whole grains are more nutritious, promote better digestion, and can often be tastier. The process of making white bread removes much of the wheat’s original flavor, and many bread companies have to compensate for their bland flour with excessive salt, sugar, and other additives.
Any of these steps will make your meal healthier for you and your guests. Combined, they will be even more effective. Tasty food doesn’t have to be bad for you, and healthy eating doesn’t have to be put on hold during the holidays.