The Chemistry of Your Thanksgiving Dinner

Ahhh, Thanksgiving dinner!  We've been looking forward to it for a week!  If you've been planning or purchasing or prepping, you, too have been looking forward.  What about when you look back?  Will you be the one who has to bust the button on your pants and sleep off your indulgence?  Will you be joining us for the annual Turkey Trot and "earning your extra pie" as one friend told me?  Or will you be so rushed and busy with all of the preparations that you blink and it's over and you've missed this year's opportunity to enjoy your family and friends over a day of gratitude?

Here is one more way for me to wish you a happy, healthy, day of thanks.  This little re-cap of Medscape's Chemistry of Your Thanksgiving Dinner is intended to help you think ahead a little and worry none so your time can be spent enjoying the day.

Turkey: (breast meat, no skin of course!) 0 carbs, low fat, high energy.  Bonus: selenium, niacin, calcium and potassium.
Gravy: 50 cal of "energy", 2g of fat, high sodium.  Bonus: ?taste if the turkey is dry...
Mashed potatoes: (the homemade kind with whole milk and butter) high calorie, high carb, 9g fat. Bonus: potassium, vitamin A.
Green beans: low calorie, low fat, high fiber.  Bonus: vitamin content extraordinaire!
Cranberry sauce: (canned and easy) <1g fat, ~80 calories per slice. Bonus: vitamin A, lutein (that carotenoid important for eye health).
Stuffing:(no meat added) ~385 calories, 4 g fat, high carb, high sodium.  Bonus: folate, and tradition!
Red wine: 250 calories. Bonus: resveratrol, choline, lutein.
Pumpkin Pie: 316 calories, 14 g fat, 40 g carb.  Bonus: vitamin A, beta carotene, niacin
Apple Pie: 265 calories, 12.5 g fat, 37 g carb.  Bonus: niacin.
The whole dinner can be around 2050 calories and 45 g of fat without seconds.  Ugh, reality check!

So, put some thought into what you love most.  Skip the seconds and save them for left overs.  And by all means, give your stomach enough time to get the message to your brain that "hey, turkey, I'm stuffed!"

Enjoy your day in a healthy way so that you can look back with as much joy as you looked forward.
Happy Thanksgiving!