Ways To Healthify Your Christmas Day Menu

Laurentine ten Bosch writes:

"With the festive season right around the corner, many of us are wondering how to deal with the food challenges that this time of year can present. On one hand, it’s important to enjoy social occasions without obsessing over food. On the other, our bodies can start to feel a bit sluggish if we’re overdoing it. Here are ten tips to enjoying the holiday season, without being a Christmas Food Grinch or compromising your wellbeing.

1. Mix Up A Ginger Kombucha Punch
This is seriously delicious! Replace ginger ale with ginger kombucha in your favourite punch recipes. Both ginger and kombucha are excellent digestive aids, and your guests won’t taste the difference. You can also combine ginger kombucha, sliced citrus, fresh lemon wedges and pure fruit juice of your choice to create an extra-restorative elixir.

2. Plan The Menu Together
A little communication and coordination can really make a big difference to your Christmas feast. Decide ahead of time who will prepare each dish or aspect of your Christmas menu. This saves a surplus of food that otherwise encourages overeating and also makes Christmas expenses more manageable.

3. Eat Like It's Fine Dining
Gourmet restaurants always serve small portions, but are you ever left unsatisfied? There are several reasons for this. Firstly, no bite ever tastes as good as the first mouthful, as our taste-buds progressively desensitize to the flavours in our meal. We are also more likely to notice fullness when served with small portions on petite plates.

4. Enjoy Some Nutty Nibbles
Nuts provide quality protein, are high in fibre and can help us to feel fuller for longer. Roast some mixed nuts in honey with a little cinnamon or allspice and include them with your Christmas appetizers. They are delicious, make a great festive snack and can curb your appetite for the main meal.

5. Spritz Up Your Drinks With Lemon

As you top up your Christmas drinks, add in a fresh wedge of lemon. The light taste of lemon refreshes the palate, complements the flavour of sweet drinks, and is a natural alkalizer to help balance out the intake of acid-forming treat foods.

6. Start With The End In Mind
Take a moment to ask how you would like to feel when you finish your Christmas event. Are there certain foods that are non-negotiable indulgences? Or perhaps there are some foods you would be happy not to sample? You can avoid the post-feast downer by deciding how you want to feel afterwards and tuning in to how your body is matching this as you eat.

7. Go Seasonal With Your Christmas Cooking
Most Christmas recipes can be modified to incorporate foods that are in season. As long as the produce is similar in texture most dishes can be easily adapted to use seasonal fruit and veggies. It will taste just as good but provide more goodness!

8. Buy Less But Only The Best
Food wastage is a massive environmental concern, with an estimated 6 million tonnes of additional food waste generated during this season. Try to think about how much food you realistically need and treat yourself by buying the finest quality, rather than splurging with quantity. Your wallet, bellies and Mother Nature will all benefit for it!

9. Use Fine And Dainty Chinaware

Who doesn’t want to present a beautiful table spread on Christmas Day? Some good quality chinaware not only puts the Wow factor on your Christmas table but also limits the amount of food we can pile on our plates.

10. Don’t Turn The Feast Into A Festival
If you treat your body with nutritious food most of the time, splashing out a bit with Christmas food isn’t likely to be very bad for your health. However, it’s easy to slip into unhealthy eating habits if you have lots of non-nutritious food left over in your fridge. Divvy up the leftovers between your Christmas guests and make the transition back into vibrant eating all the easier!"

All words and picture above are from an original article here

With Christmas just around the corner, are you still ...

Looking for a fool-proof way to cook your turkey then look here
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Have you seen 'The Best Low Carb Christmas Pudding Recipe Ever' - look here

Readers - you will find a variety of articles and recipe ideas, are within this blog. It is important to note, not all may be suitable for you. If you may have any food allergies, or underlying health issues these must always be taken into account. If you are a diabetic and not sure how certain foods may affect your blood sugars, test is best, i.e. use your meter.

As always thanks for reading.

All the best Jan