Everyone knows that Thanksgiving is the worst eating day for everyone in the US. Anyone that is on a “Diet” is either going to blow it or will have to use every ounce of unnatural will power to not give in to the Holiday’s tradition of stuffing your face until you can’t move. Even more specifically for us Texans, stuffing your face until you can’t move and waddling into your relative host’s living room to watch the Cowboys.
We have labeled Thanksgiving as the least healthy holiday. Well, like we all know, it doesn’t pay to hang out with the wrong kind of people. Thanksgiving should just be considered another day in November as far as it’s affect of our health, it just happens to be guilty by association. The association we give it to food, and lots of it. With this being the United States of America, we are free to do as we wish, furthermore, eat as we wish. Let’s take a closer look at the major food components to Thanksgiving before we judge too strictly.
First up, I’d like to call to the stand, Turkey, the main character in the Thanksgiving feast.
5 ounces of white mean Turkey: Total Fat: 11.7g Saturated Fat: 3.2 Trans Fat: 0 Cholesterol: 107.6mg Sodium: 89.2mg Carbs: 0 Protein :40.4g
Turkey does have a little bit of fat, no saturated or trans fats though, but healthy unsaturated fats. There is a very small amout of cholesterol, sodium, and no carbs. It has tons of protein, and protein from turkey is a great source because it is a complete protein with all of the necessary amino acids. It seems like turkey is not bad for us, but actually healthy. The jury says that Turkey is innocent!
Next, Sweet Potatoes.
Sweet Potatoes, Dark Orange, Fresh, 5″ long Total Fat: .1g Cholesterol: 0mg Sodium: 71.5mg Carbs: 26.2g Protein: 2g
It seems that sweet potatoes are fat free and cholesterol free. They are nearly free of sodium as well as protein. This vegetable, or root, has good carbs as well. These good carbs are complex, which means your body breaks them down slowly providing you with energy over time, instead of going straight to your hips or stomach as fat. It would appear that sweet potatoes are innocent also.
Up next, canned cranberry sauce.
Cranberry Sauce, Sweetened and Canned, 3 slices: Total Fat: .3g Cholesterol: 0mg Sodium: 49.6mg Carbs: 66.5g Sugars- 64.5.g Protein: .3g
Cranberry Sauce has no fat (the FDA allows foods to be called “NO FAT, Preservatives, Trans Fat as long as each serving has less than .5g of fat. Don’t be fooled thinking you aren’t eating fat, first look at how many servings you are eating, then multiply it by .49 and that’s how many actual grams of fat you just ate, FYI). It has no cholesterol, and the salt content of two saltine crackers, not bad. The bad part is, it has 66.5 grams of carbs, and 64.5 of those is sugar! Measure 65 grams of sugar in a measuring cup, now imagine that pile of sugar being added directly to your waistline, because that’s what happens when you eat 64.5g of sugar, unless you are currently running a marathon, and a sprint to the dessert line does not qualify as a marathon. The verdict: Guilty! Canned cranberry sauce is guilty of having way to much sugar and adding padding!
Now for the stuffing:
Stuffing, bread, prep/dry mix 1/2cup Total Fat: 8.6g Saturated Fat: 1.7g Cholesterol: 0mg Sodium: 543mg Carbs: 21.7g Sugars: 2.1g Protein: 3.2g
Stuffing does have a little bit of fat, but it’s not bad fat. It is low in sodium, but also low in protein. There is a ton of sodium, but actually less than most canned or boxed goods, so it’s not that bad compared to most American diets. There are a fair amont of carbs, but they are from the white bread and not sugar. It would appear that stuffing is innocent!
I’ve seen all I need. We have learned that turkey is actually healthy, canned cranberries are loaded with sugar, sweet potatoes are great, and stuffing isn’t healthy, but isn’t that bad either.
So, is Thanksgiving innocent or guilty? It’s innocent. Think about it, if we eat a serving of turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberries (not the canned sugary kind), and stuffing, we actually have a pretty healthy meal made of real, natural food. For some, it would be the healthiest meal they have eaten in a while.
I think we know who is really guilty.
Even if you eat healthy food in excess, you will gain weight. Calories are calories no matter where they come from.
So what’s the big deal? Thanksgiving has only gotten it’s bad image because we overeat, and not only on the healthy stuff. We fill ourselves full of dinner and dessert. I know I don’t have to tell you how bad dessert can be, so I’m not going to. Just take it easy.
So get off of Thanksgiving’s case, its not guilty, we are. This year, instead of getting so stuffed we have to be rolled away from the table, how about we take responsibility for ourselves and know when to call it quits, and actually do it. This year, instead of complaining how miserable we are from overeating, let’s give thanks to the lord that we actually have more than enough to eat and have our needs provided for.
Have a great Thanksgiving.
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