Christmas is full of delicious food but it can be hard to tell what is the healthiest and unhealthiest? Try and avoid extra and unnecessary calories with some of these substitutes:
Meat
The meat on your plate is the base of your Christmas dinner so here are some of the healthy and unhealthy options:
Healthy
- Roast beef (100g) -170 calories
- Roast turkey (100g) – 189 calories
- Roast gammon (joint) – 189 calories
Unhealthy
- Roast chicken (100g) – 239 calories
- Roast lamb (100g) – 294 calories
Potatoes
We all love roast potatoes with our Christmas roast but they are high in calories and very fattening. New, sweet and mash potatoes are a healthy substitute:
Healthy
- Sweet potato (100g) – 86 calories
- Mash potato (100g) – 88 calories
- New potatoes (180g) – 77 calories
Unhealthy
- Roast potatoes with olive oil (100g) – 149 calories
Stuffing
Good news! The majority of stuffing is low in calories as it’s mainly just vegetables. It’s meat stuffing that racks up the calories, so try and stick to vegetable.
Healthy
- Wild mushroom stuffing (100g) – 76 calories
- Vegetable stuffing (100g) – 110 calories
- Sage and onion stuffing (100g) – 114 calories
Unhealthy
- Sausage stuffing (100g) – 230 calories
Gravy
Gravy doesn’t hold that many calories, but if you’re drowning your plate in gravy, then the calories are going to start adding up.
Healthy
- Vegetable gravy (25g) – 7 calories
- Beef gravy (25g) – 10.5 calories
Unhealthy
- Chicken gravy (25g) – 20 calories
Vegetables
Vegetables are healthy but how you cook them and what you cook them in is where people get caught out and consume extra and unnecessary calories without even realising!
Healthy
- Boil – Boiled vegetables are high in water content and essential nutrients like antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds prevent skin problemsHealthy
- Steam – Steaming ensures that vitamins such as vitamin B, riboflavin, thiamine, niacin, biotin, B12, pantothenic acid and vitamin C, as well as minerals such as calcium, phosphorous, potassium, and zinc are retained.
- Cooking in rapeseed oil – Rapeseed Oil has the lowest saturated fat of any culinary oil and less than half that of Olive Oil
Unhealthy
- Deep fry – Avoid deep frying food as it increases the saturated fat content of the food
- Pan fry – Increases saturated fat and cholesterol
- Cooking in butter – Butter is around 80 per cent fat and for this reason, many people prefer to use alternatives.
These are all small changes that mean that you can enjoy your Christmas day and enjoy your meal without worrying that it is unhealthy. Have a happy and healthy Christmas.