Christmas Nutr’isms

Ever wondered if you could make your festive meals just that little bit more health-conscious?  Eat Drink Think Nutrition® Registered Nutritionist Kate has twelve effortless foodie tips to support your quest of optimising the health benefits within your festive meals.

1. Savour the preparation of your meals and take time to chew your food. Watching, smelling and chewing activates the Cephalic Phase which ‘warms up’ the body in preparation for receiving food and supports efficient digestion.

2. Snowball the fibre content of your Christmas dinner by keeping the skins on your potatoes & vegetables, (unless you have a digestive condition which makes it difficult to digest insoluble fibre).

3. Blend a little sauerkraut into your Brussels sprouts. This fermented ingredient is rich in Vitamin K2 which supports vascular flexibility and facilitates the bioavailability and transition of Vitamin D3 into bone.

4. Ask Santa to leave dark chocolate coins in your Christmas Stocking. Chocolate with 70%+ cacao content is lower in sugar and richer in antioxidants (useful for quelling excess inflammation), as well as containing the minerals Copper, Magnesium and Zinc.

5. Swap your Christmas Pudding condiment for live organic Greek yogurt or organic no-added-sugar Kefir (if you can tolerate Dairy). This adds a probiotic element to your Christmas dinner to nourish the beneficial species of bacteria in your gut microbiome.

6. Choose your fats wisely.  Just as the Magi traditionally arrived last, so should you eat fats last since they are the slowest macronutrient to digest.  Eating the other macronutrients (carbohydrates and protein) before fat reduces the likelihood of experiencing the ‘too full’ feeling.

7. Carrots are not just for Reindeer!  Including carrots in your Christmas dinner provides a useful source of the antioxidant Vitamins A and C which support eye health, tissue repair, skin health and immunity.

8. If you make your own Christmas dessert, avoid adding sugar as a standalone ingredient as it will exacerbate undesirable blood sugar spikes and may increase blood cell ‘stickiness’ which is detrimental to blood flow, artery health, inflammation and potentially premature aging of your Brain and body.

9. Steam your vegetables.  The B-Complex Vitamins and Vitamin C are water soluble, so minimising their contact with water prevents a significant proportion of these Vitamins ‘leaching out’ of the vegetables into the cooking water, (unless you reuse the cooking water for gravy).

10. Try to introduce some Brain-benefitting, immunity-enhancing Vitamin D foods into your festive meals by eating oily fish (herring, mackerel, salmon, sardines, trout) on Christmas Eve or at New Year, and/or by chopping a few mushrooms into your Christmas Dinner vegetable medley.

11. When roasting your vegetables avoid using seed or vegetable oils as these tend to be highly refined and processed with little-to-no nutrient value.  The more healthful cooking fats include coconut oil, ghee and butter.  Cooking with Extra Virgin Olive Oil is an interesting case with mixed professional opinions; it has a lower burning point than the aforementioned fats therefore risks being ‘corrupted’ when exposed to high temperatures, so it is best consumed in its raw/cold form since extensive research intimates that this confers health benefits.

12. Try to schedule time for restful sleep and refrain from eating three hours before going to sleep.  If the body is not having to digest food whilst trying to get to sleep this better enables it (notwithstanding environmental factors) to efficiently detoxify the gut (via the Migrating Motor Complex) and the Brain (via the Glymphatic System), and better supports quality sleep and physiological recovery.

REMEMBER: if you are taking any medications always consult a Registered Nutritional Therapist as well as your Doctor before making significant dietary or lifestyle changes.  This blog post is written for educational purposes only and in reference to ‘food’.  It is NOT advocating taking dietary supplements.  It is very important to please always consult a Registered Nutritional Therapist or your Doctor before introducing any dietary supplements into your health regime as these qualified professionals will be able to offer personalised recommendations.