Healthy Holiday Eating: 7 Health Benefits of Your Favorite Holiday Foods
Even though holiday meals are often calorie-dense, you do still achieve healthy holiday eating and reap some heart healthy benefits. Here are seven classic holiday foods with hidden health benefits.
Pumpkin pie
One of the healthier dessert options, pumpkin pie provides fiber, manganese, copper, magnesium, zinc, and various B vitamins. A diet high in fiber supports healthy cholesterol levels, while consuming adequate magnesium promotes lower blood pressure.
Cranberry sauce
Cranberries are a rich source of antioxidants, including vitamins C and E. Antioxidants protect against free radicals, a step towards preventing heart disease and cancer.
Sweet potatoes
Sweet potatoes provide fiber, vitamins C, beta carotene, manganese, and potassium. A diet high in potassium promotes a healthy blood pressure. One sweet potato provides 428 mg of potassium.
Mashed potatoes
White potatoes contain vitamin B6, potassium, copper, and vitamin C. Vitamin B6 promoting normal homocysteine levels. Elevated homocysteine is associated with plaque build-up and blood clots. One cup of mashed potatoes provides 32% of the daily recommended intake for vitamin B6.
Green bean casserole
Green beans contain carotenoids, flavonoids, vitamin C, beta-carotene, and manganese. Carotenoids provide anti-inflammatory benefits to protect against heart disease. Green beans also provide heart healthy omega-3 fatty acids.
Turkey
While there is not truly enough tryptophan in turkey for it to be the cause of your post meal nap, turkey is a rich source of heart healthy lean protein, providing 26-grams of protein per three-ounce serving with only 2 grams of fat.
Pecans
Twenty-two pecans provide 20 grams of heart healthy unsaturated fat. Adding just a handful of pecans to your daily diet will help prevent heart disease.
Choose Wisely for Healthy Holiday Eating
While holiday foods provide heart healthy nutrients, they are often prepared with extra fat and sugar leading to calorie-dense options. Going overboard can counteract the heart healthy benefits.
If you are working to improve cholesterol or blood pressure but struggle to stick with healthy choices week after week, access How to Make Heart Healthy Changes into Lifelong Habits here.
All the best,
Lisa Nelson RD
Health Pro for HealthCentral
7 Tips to Lower Cholesterol & Still Enjoy Thanksgiving
The holidays are here again, so let’s review some tips so you stick with your diet to lower cholesterol levels AND still enjoy a satisfying Thanksgiving meal.
Tip #1: Pass the Gravy
Traditional gravy is a high fat source. To make your gravy a little healthy, use a spoon to remove fat from meat and poultry dishes prior to mixing up your gravy. Another option to remove the fat is to freeze the pan drippings and then remove them before making gravy. Next, don’t go overboard. Add a little gravy for flavoring and pass it on.
Tip #2: Trim the Turkey
Limit your turkey to about 4 ounces. This would be right around the size or a deck of cards. Select white turkey meat without the skin to cut back on unnecessary fat calories.
Tip #3: Stuff the stuffing right
Boost your veggie intake by sautéing a lot of veggies into your stuffing. Some veggies may include finely diced celery, carrots, and onions.
It’s not the turkey’s fault!
Have you heard the news? Turkey is not to blame for the post-meal Thanksgiving naps. It’s been well-known for years that turkey contains tryptophan. Tryptophan is a precursor of serotonin, the neurotransmitter than regulates sleep.
However, tryptophan makes up 1% of the protein in turkey. One percent is the typical content of meat and actually half the tryptophan content of milk (2.34%).
Instead of turkey being at the root of Thanksgiving Dad sleepiness, it’s the carbohydrates in all those side dishes – stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc. The extra carbohydrates boost insulin production. It’s speculated that this extra insulin may result in amino acids (excluding tryptophan) to be pulled into muscles for use, leaving a high level of tryptophan in the bloodstream, hence the need for a nap.
Have a great turkey day!
Lisa Nelson, RD
Be Heart Healthy and Lose Weight
It's not the turkey's fault!
Have you heard the news? Turkey is not to blame for the post-meal Thanksgiving naps. It’s been well-known for years that turkey contains tryptophan. Tryptophan is a precursor of serotonin, the neurotransmitter than regulates sleep.
However, tryptophan makes up 1% of the protein in turkey. One percent is the typical content of meat and actually half the tryptophan content of milk (2.34%).
Instead of turkey being at the root of Thanksgiving Dad sleepiness, it’s the carbohydrates in all those side dishes – stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc. The extra carbohydrates boost insulin production. It’s speculated that this extra insulin may result in amino acids (excluding tryptophan) to be pulled into muscles for use, leaving a high level of tryptophan in the bloodstream, hence the need for a nap.
Have a great turkey day!
Lisa Nelson, RD
eNutritionServices
