Slow and Steady Wins the Race
If you're trying to eat healthy and manage your weight, Thanksgiving may seem like a minefield. No one wants to be the one who asks Grandmom if she could make her famous stuffing with whole wheat bread this year, or tries to convince everyone that pureed cauliflower really tastes just like mashed potatoes.
I'm here to tell you that you don't have to do any of those things. In fact, I'm going to encourage you to eat Grandmom's stuffing, just the way she's always made it, and have some real mashed potatoes.
I know what you're thinking - all those carbs! But the reality is, it's not so much the carbs themselves, but what you eat them with and when you eat them. Sound too good to be true? Stick with me, and I'll explain.
Everybody talks about carbs in terms of their glycemic index - the rate at which the glucose in a carbohydrate is released into the blood stream. Simple, processed carbs (like white bread) have a high glycemic index, meaning their glucose hits the bloodstream quickly. Complex carbohydrates (like whole grains) have a low glycemic index, meaning their glucose is released slowly and gradually. Just like Grandpa always said, slow and steady wins the race.
But as I've said time and time again, when carbs are eaten as part of a meal, the glycemic index of each individual food doesn't matter. That's because proteins and fats eaten with the carbohydrates can slow down glucose absorption. When combined with other foods, a fast carb can become a slow carb, or at least a slower carb. So it's more appropriate to talk about a meal's total glycemic load - the net impact the entire meal has on glucose release in the bloodstream.
Thanksgiving dinner is a great example, because there are plenty of protein and good fat options to help balance the carbs. So it's ok to have some mashed potatoes or stuffing - as long as you save room for some turkey, which is a good source of lean protein (as well as zinc, phosphorus, potassium and B vitamins). And be sure to put butter on your mashed potatoes or Aunt Sue's famous cloverleaf rolls - the good fats in real butter (not margarine) will help minimize the fast carb action. If you want dessert, go ahead - just save it for after dinner, so the rest of the food in your digestive system can help slow things down.
Plus, don't overlook the health benefits of the foods themselves. Most turkey stuffing is chock full of onions and celery - two powerful health foods. Onions can help improve levels of "good" HDL cholesterol. Celery contains a compound called 3nB that blocks stress hormones and relaxes blood vessel walls (a definite plus when you're trying to cook dinner for 30 relatives.) Pumpkin pie gets its delicious sweet-spice taste from cinnamon, which can help improve insulin efficiency, and cloves, which have a natural blood thinning effect. And if your family is one that traditionally has sauerkraut on the Thanksgiving table, you're in luck - the stuff can help you better digest proteins and fats, and it's loaded with health-promoting bacteria and B vitamins.
Of course, it's easy to get too much of all these good things. You still need to exercise some control to keep from eating too much. Take small portions of all your favorites and take your time - enjoy the company around the table and reflect all on you have to be thankful for. Hopefully, one of those things is your good health - and the commitment you have to keeping it that way.
