Don't be a Turkey this Thanksgiving

By Dr. Steven Warfield

Now that Halloween is behind us we are rapidly approaching the holiday season.  This means getting together with friends and family for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve.  It also means all too many situations in which it is all too easy to overindulge.  Since one of the biggest problems that Americans face today is obesity, I thought I’d start the season off by providing some insights into the good, the bad and the ugly truth about fat. 

In the first place, not all fat is bad for you.  From a nutritional standpoint there are four kinds of fat:  Trans fat, saturated fat, monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fat.  The first two are bad for you and the second two are actually good for you.  So the first thing you need to do is be able to distinguish one from the other.

Monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) may sound ugly, but these fats are actually good for you.  They are found in such things as olives, avocados, all-natural peanut butter and a host of plant-based oils such as canola, sunflower, olive, sesame, palm, soybean and safflower.  Research has proven that people who eat foods rich in MUFAs have much lower odds of developing cancer and heart disease.

The problem is that when vegetable oils are either hardened in the process known as hydrogenation, or used to deep fry food, this can convert MUFA’s into trans fatty acids (TFAs) that are definitely not good for you.  Considered by experts to block the absorption of good fats, TFAs are devilishly difficult for the body to break down.  Worst still, they are found in everything from crackers and baked goods to dairy products and even microwave popcorn.  They are known to increase the likelihood of everything from cancer and heart disease to diabetes and even asthma.

If you are trying to weed TFAs out of your diet, you won’t find the words Trans Fatty Acids on the ingredients in the food displayed at the local supermarket.  The terms you want to be on the lookout for are “hydrogenated,” partially-hydrogenated,” or “shortening.”  Foods high in TFAs include everything from French fries and pie crust, to many brands of margarine, ice cream, Crisco, cake icing, snack cakes, snack crackers, frozen dinners, canned chili, packaged pudding, and breakfast sandwiches, just to name a few.  If you are like me, then you will carefully consider any ingredient that doesn’t come from the produce section before putting it in your grocery basket.

Unfortunately TFAs are not the only kind of fat that is deleterious to your health.  TFAs partner in crime is saturated fat, such as that found in red meat.  National Cancer Institute studies have pointed out that there is an elevated risk of prostate cancer that has been linked to consumption of too much saturated fat.  It has also been linked to Alzheimer’s disease and atherosclerosis, more commonly known as hardening of the arteries.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that all animal fat is bad for you.  In fact one kind of fat found in fish is positively good for you.  Known as Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (or PUFAs),  these beneficial fats are located in such things as salmon, cod, tuna, and trout as well as many raw nuts, leafy greens and flax seeds.  Not only has it been proven that a diet high in PUFAs can be beneficial in fighting heart disease, but it may also benefit those with such debilitating conditions as rheumatoid arthritis and adult onset asthma.

Current thinking is that keeping your intake of saturated fat and trans fat as low as possible is important to warding off disease, while increasing your intake of mono and polyunsaturated fat is just what the doctor ordered.  As for the good, the bad and the ugly side of the All-American Thanksgiving dinner, below is the lineup of suspects.

The Good: When it comes to turkey, which is healthier, dark or white meat?  Opting for white meat saves you 50 calories and four grams of fat.  (115 calories for white as opposed to 160 calories for dark meat)

Cranberry sauce & Gravy (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Cranberry Sauce – What would Thanksgiving dinner be without cranberry sauce?  Good question.  The answer as to whether this dish is healthy or not depends upon two things: 1. Store bought or homemade 2. How much sugar.  Cranberries are naturally rich in fiber and vitamin C.  If you buy the berries fresh and cook them with apple sauce this will not only help to sweeten them but it will also provide the moisture they need to cook.

Vegetable Side Dishes are what you want to load up on, unless they are loaded with such things as cheese, sugar or marshmallows.

The Bad: Biscuits– Talk about adding insult to injury, you already have mashed potatoes and stuffing, now you want to add even more carbs?  And unless those biscuits are made from scratch you can rest assured that they are loaded with hydrogenated fat.

Pumpkin Pie – It isn’t necessarily the pie filling that’ll get you, it’s the crust, especially if it is made with shortening.

The Ugly: Deep Fried Turkey – Why would anyone do this to such a noble bird?

Candied Sweet Potatoes – This is just another way to take a healthy dish and turn it on its head.  Load these tubers up with brown sugar, butter and marshmallows and you have created a calorie bomb that’s just waiting to go off.

So if you are health conscious you don’t need to wire your mouth shut this holiday season. Just learn to differentiate what food to consume and which to avoid so that you don’t become a turkey this Thanksgiving.  (Those of you that don’t heed this warning will have to read my upcoming blog entitled, “The Ghost of Christmas Diets Past.”)

Dr.’s Steven Warfield and Dave Edenfield offer the most advanced treatments for back pain, sciatica, neck pain, whiplash and headaches. They also treat auto accident victims with state-of-the-art technologies.  For more information visit http://endyourpain.org or http://chiropractor-jacksonville-fl.com