By Roy Dittmann, OMD, MH
The Thanksgiving Holiday brings family and friends together to celebrate the harvest and to give thanks for family, friends, and community. Here are some simple ways to keep your holiday celebration safe, healthy, and GMO-free.
1. Protect yourself from “glucose shock”
During the holiday season, make it a rule to eat protein before you enjoy that dessert. The protein stabilizes fluctuations in blood sugar, which means that you are less likely to experience a sugar crash. When eating carbohydrate-rich side dishes like yams and potatoes, a little extra grass-fed butter will help slow down the rapid rise in blood glucose. Want to avoid eating too much? Try drinking a full glass of water before dinner and chew your food slowly. Watch how it cuts your appetite in half! And if “Aunt Betty” comes to dinner with her famous pecan pie, try this little-known secret to protect yourself from the sugar blues – take a green coffee extract with your pie.
2. Don’t forget – let some fresh air inside
If you live in an eco-house designed to keep the heat in and the cold out, you may be breathing in carbon monoxide this Thanksgiving. Keep your kitchen and living room well-ventilated to prevent the buildup of carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide is naturally produced by gas ovens and both gas- and wood-burning fireplaces.
3. Bring your own turkey
So what do you say when your mother says, “What’s the problem, my turkey’s not good enough for you?” This is where you get to practice straight talk. Try something like, “I love you mom, and I also love being healthy. You raised me to think for myself and to take good care of myself and my family. This is what we need to eat to feel good about the day. It is my turn to introduce you to something new - to start a new tradition.” Organic, free-range turkeys are a healthier choice for you and your family. Not only are they fed a GMO-free diet, they are a more ecologically sound, humane, and nutritious choice. Mass-produced turkeys are often pre-basted or pre-stuffed using unhealthy ingredients like MSG, autolyzed yeast extract, GMO-corn and soy, sodium chloride (table salt), and high fructose corn syrup. Instead, brine your own using Celtic sea salt, fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, savory, and sage), and organic vegetable broth.
4. Add farm-fresh foods to your healthy holiday meal
Eat like your great grandparents ate – eat whole, organic foods from the harvest. Turn your festive dinner into a cornucopia of healing culinary delights. Steamed asparagus and homemade cranberry sauce both nourish your kidneys, while turnips, beets, and artichokes nourish your liver. Sweet potatoes nourish your spleen and Brussels sprouts help your body to detox estrogen-like chemicals.
5. Be good to your brain and taste buds
Instead of white rice, try Bhutanese red rice mixed with wild rice and organic brown rice. Throw in some dried cherries and raw chopped walnuts to nourish your kidneys and brain. In addition, drizzle unfiltered cold-pressed olive oil on your cooked Brussels sprouts and carrots, plus sprinkle on some Celtic sea salt, for a healthy, nourishing side dish.
6. Avoid (unwanted) GMOs at the dinner table
Just say “NO” to frankenfoods by avoiding hidden GMO ingredients, pesticides, and MSG. When reading labels, steer clear of the two most common GMO ingredients, soy lecithin and high fructose corn syrup, as well as non-organic corn and soy and “yeast extract” – commonly found in store-bought broth, canned cranberries, conventional “seasoned” turkeys, store-bought stuffing, salad dressings, and pies.
7. Have your sweets without guilt
Instead of white and brown sugar, Sucralose®, Nutrasweet®, and Equal® – make the switch to SugaVida®. The world’s only fermented sweetener, SugaVida® is naturally rich in B vitamins including vitamin B12 thanks to the unique microbiome around the Palmyra sap. If you can’t get SugaVida®, the next best thing is coconut sugar. Both are perfect for baking. During the holidays, SugaVida® is a nutritious and delicious alternatives to brown sugar. Gently melt grass-fed butter and SugaVida® together (below 118ºF) to glaze yams, apple pies, and pumpkin pies for a Thanksgiving to remember (SugaVida.com). To sweeten after-dinner coffee, consider adding a dab of grass-fed ghee or butter, raw cinnamon, and SugaVida®. If you are dairy-free, try chocolate hazelnut milk, available at your local health food store. Remember to look for one without carrageenan, which can contribute to gut inflammation.
8. Go raw this holiday season
Raw, organic grass-fed butter, milk, and whipping cream are Thanksgiving staples. Rich in conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), vitamin D3, vitamin K2, and DHA, raw grass-fed cream can be whipped up to make homemade whipped cream, used to make homemade eggnog, or layered into mashed sweet potatoes. We like to supercharge our whipped cream with a little SugaVida® and raw vanilla bean.
Would you like some ice cream with that pie?
The perfect way to finish off your Thanksgiving holiday is to serve raw coconut ice cream. Coconuts are rich in lauric acid and medium-chained triglycerides (MCTs) – which have been shown to feed the brain and step up your body’s ability to burn calories. If you cannot find a source for this delicious treat, look for an organic grass-fed ice cream to top your favorite warm apple pie. Our family loves Three Twins’s® Dad’s Cardamon and Strauss’® vanilla.
Serving the ice cream alongside a piece of homemade pie? The healthiest holiday pies are berry pies - think blackberry, blueberry, and raspberry. Rich in antioxidants and other glyconutrients, berry pie helps to reduce inflammation.
About the author:
Dr. Roy Dittmann is the author of Brighton Baby: A Revolutionary Organic Approach to Having an Extraordinary Child. To order a copy of Dr. Dittman’s book – visit: BrightonBaby.com. With over 30 years of experience in perinatal and longevity sciences, Dr. Dittman’s lifelong commitment to transforming the way in which we conceive, birth, and raise children inspires couples to take action now to protect their future children’s destiny. You can follow him on Facebook, at Brighton Baby, and at Blog.BrightonInstitute.org.
References:
• Nagendran MV. Effect of green coffee bean extract (GCE), high in chologenic acids, on glucose metabolism. Poster presentation number: 45-LB-P. Obesity 2011, the 29th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Obesity Society, Orlando, Florida. October 1-5, 2011.
• J Am Coll Cardiol. 1999 Mar; 33(3):612-9.
• Diabetes Care. 2009 Sep; 32(9):1721-6.