HU Professor Releases Healthy Holiday Eating Tips

Hampton, VA - All of us know how hard it is to keep from gaining weight over the holiday season. Between Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year we are inundated with invitations to gatherings to celebrate in one form or another. Here are a few tips that can help.

First of all if you are throwing a party, be smart and create a range of foods that are both decedent and easy on the calories. Some people can eat anything with no problems but for most of us there are certain food items that are a no no. So how about making say bread pudding with eggbeaters and low carb bread? That way you are lowering the cholesterol and carbohydrates for those people with high cholesterol and those who try to keep their carbs in check. You can also use a sugar substitute and fat free milk or cream.

Here are a few other ideas for those holiday dishes using smarter choices for ingredients:

• You can make eggbeaters eggnog for a low cholesterol treat
• French toast out of low carb, whole wheat bread dipped in eggbeaters with vanilla and cinnamon
• If you have to watch your sugar use a substitute I like Splenda or Stevia
• Make your stuffing out of low carb whole wheat bread
• Use salt sense (Morton salt) to lower your sodium content without the loss of flavor
• If you have to keep your carbs low you can buy carbalose flour on the web (Netrition.com) and make biscuits, cookies, or pancakes – these will be low in carbohydrates
• Instead of using so much salt use other seasonings for a unique flavor - I use a lot of combinations like the 5 Cs. Cinnamon, coriander, cardamom, cumin, and cilantro
• Use Balsamic Vinegar which is sweet and tart – very good in soups
• If you like pickles – B & G make a sweet bread and butter chip without added salt (http://healthyheartmarket.com/) I loved finding these pickles and I make it even go further by slicing up a fresh cucumber and adding it to the leftover juices to make a milder “pickle” but still tasty for salads or sandwiches.
• Low sodium crackers (Ritz) with B & G pickles, tomato, onion, sprouts, and whatever hits your fancy make a great snack, appetizer

Of course the most important factor is portion size. We often fool ourselves into thinking we are not getting too much of a bad thing when we read the label and see it only has a small amount of that ingredient. However, we then proceed to eat more than a single portion.

So the best tip is to eat small amounts of food spread out over the course of the day. If you are going to be at a party for several hours, eat a small amount in the beginning and then leave the food alone for a couple of hours. Make a second round of eating later and you will find your body handles it better because it has had time to digest the first course. Small meals with time to digest can help your metabolism stay high. Actually 3 hours between meals is about perfect but 2.5 – 3.5 works fine.

Here’s to a healthy holiday season.

By Dr. Joanne Morse

Morse is an associate professor in the Hampton University School of Pharmacy. She teaches anatomy and physiology and has been at HU 11 years. She is the author of “How Low Can You Go. Nutritional Limbo,” a book about strategies for dieting and eating healthy. The book, which also offers healthy eating recipes, is for sale at www.howlowcanyougobook.com.