6 Tips for a Healthier Thanksgiving

Easy ways to cut calories and fat without sacrificing flavor in your favorite holiday recipes.

Thanksgiving is all about abundance. Everyone wants to bring their favorite dish, or needs to have both pumpkin and apple pie (with whipped cream on top). With all the rich choices, there’s a distinct chance that Thanksgiving will turn into overindulgence. You’ll be staggering away from the table, barely able to move. But it doesn’t have to be that way! With reasonable portion sizes and healthier dishes that don’t sacrifice flavor, Thanksgiving dinner can still be joyful, delicious and healthy.

1. Add flavor, not fat. Many recipes suggest rubbing the bird with butter before roasting. If you roast a turkey without overcooking, it won’t dry out—there’s no need to rub it with butter beforehand. Skip it and avoid adding extra saturated fat. Try chopped fresh herbs and garlic mixed with a little heart-healthy olive oil instead.

2. Avoid added salt. We've found that conventional turkeys (with added salt solution) do stay moister but if you’re watching your sodium intake, avoid them.

3. Skip the skin. A 3-ounce portion of light meat without skin has only 132 calories and 3 grams of fat. With the skin, that jumps to 168 calories and 6 grams of fat. (Dark meat has more calories but also more iron: three ounces of dark meat supplies 15% of the recommended daily intake of iron; white meat has only 8%.)

4. Broth is better. Many traditional stuffing recipes call for butter. Use a bit of chicken broth instead to keep it moist without the added fat or calories.

5. Hold the sugar. Sweet potatoes are already sweet, so why load them up with brown sugar and marshmallows when just a touch of maple syrup or honey accentuates their great flavor?

6. Forgo the butter. The key to tasty gravy is using all the drippings from the roasting pan (with the fat skimmed off). This gives plenty of flavor without the added fat or calories. Forgo added butter, which really bumps up the calories and fat.

WebMD Feature from "EatingWell"

Black Tea Linked to Lower Diabetes Risk

Drinking black tea may help protect against type 2 diabetes, but more study is needed to confirm an association.

When researchers analyzed data from 50 countries, they found that the rate of diabetes was lowest in countries where people drank the most black tea.

Type 2 diabetes rates have skyrocketed worldwide in recent decades. It's projected that by 2030 there will be more than 900 million people across the globe with diabetes or with a high risk for developing it.

When researchers used a mathematical model to estimate the impact of drinking black tea on a number of health conditions, they found a link to just one -- diabetes.

Of the countries included in the analysis, black tea drinking was highest in Ireland, the U.K., and Turkey. It was lowest in South Korea, Brazil, and China.

Researcher Ariel Beresniak, MD, PhD, of the mathematical research group Data Mining International in Geneva, Switzerland, says the study shows a consistent relationship between black tea drinking and type 2 diabetes risk. But this study does not prove a cause and effect relationship.

Black tea may protect against diabetes, Beresniak says, but more research is needed to prove this.

"You certainly can't say that on the basis of this study alone, but the findings are consistent with previous studies that have also suggested a link," he says.

The new study was published today in the journal BMJ Open.

Role of Green Tea and White Tea

Studies have also linked green tea and white tea to a lower risk of diabetes, but Beresniak and colleagues were not able to examine this association.

Black tea is more highly fermented and, as the name suggests, darker than green or white tea.

The fermentation process turns simple flavonoid compounds called catechins in green tea into complex compounds called theaflavins and thearubigins.

Beresniak says if black tea is shown in future research to actually lower diabetes risk, the fermentation process may explain why.

Diabetes specialist Spyros Mezitis, MD, of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, says while there is probably no harm in drinking tea, there is as yet no compelling reason to recommend that patients with diabetes or those at risk for the disease drink tea.

"I am not convinced on the basis of this study that drinking black tea lowers diabetes risk," he says.

He adds that dietary and other lifestyle choices known to lower diabetes risk include:

·         Limiting foods that contain refined sugar and highly refined white flour.

·         Adding fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy to your diet.

·         Getting at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise, at least three times a week.

"These are things that we know will make a difference," he says.

By Salynn Boyles WebMD Health News                  Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD