Save Room On Your Plate For These 10 Healthy Holiday Foods
There are plenty of things you can eat this Christmas that will be both great-tasting and great-for you; you just have to know where to look!
1. Turkey
2. Pomegranates
Pomegranates do have a relatively high sugar and calorie count, as far as fruit goes, but at least its natural sugar rather than the processed crud. A one cup serving of pomegranates also contains an impressive seven grams of fiber to help balance the out the sweetness and keep you full.
Pomegranates also have high micronutrient levels and documented anti-inflammatory properties, so, all in all, it's still a better dessert choice than any conventional "dessert."3. Sweet Potatoes
While sweet potatoes are indeed slightly higher in sugar and calories than their white cousins, they're also higher in a variety of micronutrients. For example, a hundred gram serving of the stuff offers you nearly three times your reccomended amount of Vitamin A!
If you want to get all the fiber you can out of your sweet potato, eat it with the skin. Pairing sweet potato with a healthy fat like olive oil can also help you absorb more vitamins from it. There's no need, however, to add any more sugar as in those horrendous sweet potato and marshmallow concoctions!4. Brussels Sprouts
Though they've often been upstaged by showier dishes, roasted brussels sprouts are a fairly common Christmastime offering.
A half-cup of cooked brussels sprouts only has 28 calories, but it also contains over a hundred percent of your recommended daily Vitamin K intake and eighty percent of your daily recommended Vitamin C.
You'll also get two grams of fiber and smaller amounts of folate, vitamin B6, potassium, iron, thiamine, magnesium and phosphorus. Plus, brussels sprouts contain the antioxidant kaempferol, which has been show to fight serious conditions like cancer and heart disease.5. Healthy Dips
6. Green Beans
As long as you don't try baking them into one of those dastardly casseroles, green beans are a great holiday choice. They're nearly fat free and have only 31 calories and 3.6 grams of sugar per cup!
Plus, while green beans are high in fiber, they are FODMAP (Fermentable Oligo-, Di-, Mono-saccharides And Polyols) free, meaning that even those who are sensitive to these hard-to-digest carbohydrates can enjoy them.
7. Shrimp
Protein-packed shrimp will help you stay full much longer than any carb-based snack. It will also offer you generous doses of the antioxidant astaxanthin, the vitamin B12, and the minerals selenium, copper, choline, and iodine.
8. Herbs and Spices
9. Hot Cocoa
10. Tea
If you're the one in charge of cooking, cleaning, and/or keeping track of all those unruly nieces and nephews, you may enjoy amping up with a caffeine packed yerba mate
On the other hand, if your family is driving you up the walls and you just want some help chilling out, a stress-fighting cup of chamomile may be more your speed. Or, you can satisfy your mint cravings while skipping the calories of a candy cane by indulging in a nice cup of peppermint tea.
Whatever you eat or don't eat this Christmas, the 123Diet certainly hopes that you have a merry one!
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