Again, it’s the time of the year when extra calories lurk around every corner. So the common dilemma is: How do we enjoy the festive season without overindulging? Don’t fret, you can still have a healthier Christmas and still enjoy yourself just by eating healthy foods.
Here are some of them:
- Green leafy vegetables: “Vegetables are the world’s most natural foods,” says Dr. Willie T. Ong, author of How To Live Longer. “Vegetables contain vitamins, minerals and thousands of other plant chemicals known to provide health benefits. Lettuce, cabbage, spinach and broccoli are all very healthy. Green leafy vegetables contain varying amounts of fiber, potassium, calcium, folate, iron and vitamins A, B and C.”
One of the most affordable green leafy vegetables is malunggay. Nutritionists aver that 100 grams of malunggay leaves yield the following: 75 calories of energy (higher than ampalaya, squash, tomatoes, or carrots); 5.9 grams protein (higher than cauliflower, lettuce, or mustard); 12.8 grams carbohydrate (higher than okra, papaya, or watermelon); 353 mg calcium (higher than gabi leaves, mung beans, squash, and camote tops); 3.7 mg niacin (higher than other vegetables analyzed). And for thiamin, phosphorus and ascorbic acid, malunggay is at the top of the list.
- Fish: “Fish protein is generally recognized as a valuable ingredient in a balanced diet,” said Dr. Veravat Hongskul, former regional fishery officer of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in Bangkok. “It is of high biological value and contains essential amino acids not normally found in staple food.”
Medical researchers love fish. The reason: It combats a top health threat. “If you eat a modest amount of fish, you dramatically decrease your risk of dying from a heart attack,” says Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, a researcher of the Harvard School of Public Health.
Findings from 30 large studies conducted around the world show that people who consume just one or two servings of fish per week lower their risk of a fatal heart attack by an average of 36 percent.
- Milk and milk products: Milk is the most ideal food, meeting human nutritional needs better than any other single food item. It is rich in most of the nutrients needed by the human body. That is why newly born babies can subsist solely on milk in the first few months of their lives.
“Milk is teeming with calcium, protein, vitamin B2 [riboflavin], vitamin B12, vitamin A and zinc,” Ong says. “It’s perfect for growing kids and desirable for preventing osteoporosis in menopausal women. One study detected fewer cancers among those drinking low-fat milk.”
- Nuts: Ong considers nuts as “nutritional powerfoods” as they are packed in protein, minerals and fats. “Yes, they’re fatty but don’t worry,” Ong says. “The fats found in nuts are the good fats—monounsaturated and polyunsaturated.”
Instead of eating junk foods reeking in unhealthy saturated fats (like potato chips and doughnuts), nuts can reduce your bad cholesterol (LDL) while raising good cholesterol (HDL). Peanuts and cashew nuts also contain vitamin E, a potent antioxidant. Almonds are very expensive but they’re very nutritious.
- Soybean and soy products: Experts consider soybean as one of the best sources of complete protein. A complete protein is one that contains significant amounts of all the essential amino acids that must be provided to the human body because of the body’s inability to synthesize them.
As the US Food and Drug Administration claims, “Soybean protein products can be good substitutes for animal products because, unlike some other beans, soy offers a ‘complete’ protein profile. Soybean protein products can replace animal-based foods, which also have complete proteins but tend to contain more fat, especially saturated fat—without requiring major adjustments elsewhere in the diet.”
For vegetarians and semi-vegetarians, soy products like tofu or taho are great substitutes for animal meat. Soy contains genistein, a weak estrogen-like substance, which may prevent prostate and breast cancer.
- ‘Camote’: The North Atlantic Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging considered camote as one of the world’s healthiest foods. The reason: it has the highest amounts of vitamin A among the root vegetables category. It is almost fat-free (0.39 grams).
According to the United State Department of Agriculture, for one medium size camote, you get 2.15 grams of protein, 31.56 grams of net carbs, 3.8 grams of dietary fiber, 28.6 milligrams of calcium, 16.9 milligrams of sodium, 265.2 milligrams of potassium, and 29.51 milligrams of vitamin C.
Having high dietary fiber and low fat content, camote is suitable for diabetics because it helps stabilize blood sugar levels and lowers insulin resistance. Among the root vegetables, camote has the lowest glycemic index. As such, it causes only a small rise in blood glucose level.
- Banana: They are chiefly eaten raw, as a dessert fruit; in the ripe state they are sugary and easily digestible. Alexander the Great was so fascinated by the virtues of it that he described it as “the heavenly fruit that tasted like nectar sweetened in honey.” A fully ripe banana has 20-percent to 25-percent sugar. It has a significant amount of B-vitamins, especially B1 and B6.
A major study reveals that diets loaded with potassium-rich bananas may be able to cut the risk of strokes by one-third. Scientists feel that many people can be protected against strokes and heart attacks by minimizing sodium (common salt) intake and by consuming plenty of potassium-rich foods of which banana is one.
Tropical fruits, however, cautioned: “Banana fruits contain serotonin and other compounds that increase blood pressure and might contribute to certain heart conditions if used in large quantities.”
- ‘Ampalaya’: In terms of nutritional contents, the fruits and leaves of the ampalaya are reportedly rich in minerals and vitamins, notably iron, calcium, phosphorus and vitamin B. Filipinos prepared ampalaya into various dishes: it can be stir-fried with ground beef and oyster sauce, or with eggs and diced tomato.
Ampalaya can be considered as nature’s answer to diabetes. Dr. William Torres, former director of Bureau of Food and Drugs, came up with this conclusion after reviewing several studies done on ampalaya: “Ampalaya fruits, leaves, seeds and other parts, when used as dry powders, extracts, decoctions, fresh or cooled, have clearly demonstrated hypoglycemic activity.”
Happy eating!