Thanksgiving is a great meal. Friends and family come together to give thanks and celebrate the harvest season–
…and to overeat.
All of us know the feeling of eating too much, too heavy, too rich. When we should be enjoying our time with loved ones, we are uncomfortable. We exasperate our health conditions and catch a cold. We put on weight and feel lethargic.
I’m not going to tell you to make dramatic changes to your Thanksgiving meal. Usually that doesn’t work—and besides, it’s no fun.
Instead I suggest you just make small choices. Pick one food instead of the other. Make little positive choices and they’ll add up to a healthier, more enjoyable meal.
The Best and Worst Thanksgiving Foods
Before we begin, let’s set some ground rules.
Obviously, everyone uses different recipes and buys different products. Nutritional value of Thanksgiving foods can vary widely. And everyone has different health concerns—from watching calories, to cutting cholesterol to boosting their immune system.
The “Best and Worst Thanksgiving Foods” list is intended as a general guideline. Consider the overall nutritional value of each food—calories, fats, nutrients and additives. Which food moves you closest to your health goals?
Dark Meat vs. White Meat
This is the classic Thanksgiving debate. But for health, white meat has the advantage. For each 3oz serving, white meat has 50 fewer calories and 4g less fat than dark. And at Thanksgiving, you’re bound to eat more than 3oz.
The best: White meat. Enjoy your turkey but pass on the dark meat.
Healthy Meat Reminder: The quality of meat you eat is actually the most important choice. Try to buy local, antibiotic, hormone-free meat.
Sweet Potatoes vs. Mashed Potatoes
Generally potatoes are a healthy food. I especially recommend sweet potatoes for fall and winter diets. But when you add Thanksgiving condiments to potatoes, they lose their nutritional standing. Adding sugar or marshmallows to sweet potatoes makes them closer to dessert than a vegetable.
The best: Savory sweet potatoes. Bake diced sweet potatoes with a tiny bit of olive oil, garlic and rosemary for a delicious and nutritious side dish.
Clearly the worst: Mashed potatoes swimming in gravy.
Brussel Sprouts vs. Collard Greens
This one is a trick question—they are both good. They rich in B vitamins and magnesium and will fill you up so you don’t overeat other foods.
The best: Tie for first place.
Homemade Cranberry Sauce vs. Canned Cranberry Sauce
Cranberries are healthy and full of phytochemicals, which help protect against urinary tract infections, inflammation and cancer. Unfortunately, cranberry sauce is a different matter. Canned cranberry sauce can have high fructose corn syrup. You can leave the corn syrup out of homemade sauce, but many recipes call for lots of sugar.
The best: Homemade cranberry sauce.
Bonus choices: Reduce the sugar in the recipe or skip the cranberry sauce altogether and save your sugar for dessert.
Healthy Reminder: canned food in general should be avoided. Thanksgiving is about receiving and giving thanks – show the ones you love you care with quality food.
Happy Thanksgiving
Best wishes for a fun Thanksgiving feast. May you and your loved ones have safe travels and good times.
