Choosing healthy food during the holidays

[00:00:00] Host Amber Smith: Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York, invites you to be "The Informed Patient," with a podcast that features experts from Central New York's only academic medical center. I'm your host, Amber Smith. As we get into the holiday season, making healthy food choices may become more of a challenge. For help navigating menus and buffet tables, I'm talking with registered dietitian Heather Dorsey from Upstate. Welcome to "The Informed Patient," Ms. Dorsey.

[00:00:28] Heather Dorsey, RD: Hi.

[00:00:29] Host Amber Smith: Let's start by talking about eating out during the holidays. A lot of people enjoy a break from cooking. What do we need to know about restaurant dining?

[00:00:38] Heather Dorsey, RD: Well, I think the most important thing to know about restaurant dining is just to be mindful. Be aware of what you've had for the day to eat, what you're planning on wanting to have. And I think the best thing to do is kind of envision what we call the plate method, where half of your plate you really want to focus on good, healthy vegetables; a quarter of your plate, some healthy lean protein; and the last quarter of your plate, your starches, which include if you're going to get potatoes, corn, peas, when you're out at a restaurant. It's really important to kind of envision that and be mindful.

[00:01:15] Host Amber Smith: So what are the best things on the menu typically? I think a lot of people think a salad is the safest bet. Is that always the case?

[00:01:24] Heather Dorsey, RD: Not always the case. Some salads are pretty heavy with cheese, and depending on the salad dressing, and depending on the type of meat choice, especially if you get something that's fried versus grilled, that can be challenging. But salads are a good option if you're mindful of maybe asking for extra vegetables.

"I would like double tomatoes, double onions. Go light on the cheese." Those are some options. I think other good options are vegetable-based entrees, or sometimes they're like the vegetarian entrees. And another option that's always available at most restaurants is they'll have a light fare menu, which typically aims for meals less than 600 calories. And that's really the optimal number of calories, or the high end of calories that you should shoot for in a meal. And you can use that for the whole menu, but what's nice about the light fare menu is it usually keeps it under that number. And you don't have to, you can enjoy the whole entree versus halving. What I also recommend is taking half of your entree home. That is always a good option, too.

[00:02:34] Host Amber Smith: So you have lunch the next day.

[00:02:37] Heather Dorsey, RD: Yeah, it's nice. You have lunch or a dinner for the next day, and you didn't overspend on your calories, and you still feel good, and you're staying in a healthy frame of mind.

[00:02:47] Host Amber Smith: In general, what are the things to try to steer clear of on the menus?

[00:02:53] Heather Dorsey, RD: Well, the things to just really watch out for is anything that's fried. Anytime you get into the fried realm, you're going to increase your calories a lot. And, just for obvious reasons, fats have the most calories. So when they're adding fat to your food, it's going to increase those calories.

Another thing to be really aware of is things that are smothered in, like, gravies or have glazes on them, or extra sauces or cheeses. The cheese can really add a lot of calories, and a lot of meals tend to put that on to make it taste more rich. And so, watching out for cheeses and cheese sauces, those would be some of the worst options that you'd have to be mindful of.

[00:03:38] Host Amber Smith: And I thought you were going to say dessert. Are there desserts that are OK to have?

[00:03:44] Heather Dorsey, RD: You know, I don't think that dessert is the worst thing to have. I think if you're mindful during your meal that sharing a dessert, or like I said, having half the dessert just like you would the entree and taking the other half home for a nice little special surprise the next day is always fun.

I don't like to omit food from people because I think especially during the holidays and going out, this is about family and friends and gathering and being social, and food is pleasurable, and it's social, so you want to enjoy yourself, but you just want to be, like I said, the big word that I use is just being mindful of what you're doing. Because if you overdo it, obviously the next day you're going to feel not so happy with what you chose to do.

[00:04:29] Host Amber Smith: Now, what are the best drinks for when you're dining out?

[00:04:33] Heather Dorsey, RD: Well, the best drinks are water or unsweetened tea. Or you could have a nice cup of coffee with some non-dairy creamer and Splenda or Truvia if they have those on the table. Those are best options. You can always go for a diet beverage. Especially if you have, if you have diabetes, you do want to pick the diet or unsweetened options. But I think the best bet is water. And I always say ask for lemon or lime, because then it tastes a little bit better. And it's free, and it's healthy.

[00:05:02] Host Amber Smith: Now, there are options when you go to a restaurant, but maybe not so much when you're invited to a friend's home or to a party. What can people do when they're faced with food that they don't know if it's good for them or not?

[00:05:15] Heather Dorsey, RD: I think eating at a friend's house can be really challenging. And one of the things that I always recommend, and I do this in my own personal self, is when I have a family gathering or a friend gathering, I always bring something that I know that I'm going to be able to eat plenty of if I need to. So I'll always bring a large salad, a green salad, with tons of vegetables on it, and a nice light dressing, or make my own dressing. Or I'll bring a vegetable base, like a roasted vegetable tray. Or I'll bring a fresh vegetable tray, or a fruit tray. And, actually, I have some recipes to share regarding those types of options.

[00:05:54] Host Amber Smith: OK. We'll definitely get to those. Now, what if you're faced with a buffet table? I'm imagining you're going to tell me that plate strategy comes back.

[00:06:04] Heather Dorsey, RD: It does come back. It absolutely does. Because when you're faced with a buffet, you're going to have plenty of protein choices, lots of starchy choices, and probably some minimal vegetable choices. Hopefully we want more vegetable choices than not. But we also want to look at some of the protein and the starchy choices to make sure that they have some things that are beneficial. Like, look for things that have nuts in them or brown rice or wild rice or even beans. Those things are going to increase your fiber, and they're going to keep you more satisfied and will make it just more enjoyable and healthy for you.

[00:06:41] Host Amber Smith: This is Upstate's "The informed Patient" podcast. I'm your host, Amber Smith. I'm talking with registered dietitian Heather Dorsey.

This time of year, the grocery stores are full of seasonal foods that we can prepare in our own homes if we're hosting a gathering or if we just need a meal idea for regular days. What are some of your favorites?

[00:07:02] Heather Dorsey, RD: For seasonal stuff, well, the fall is all about pumpkin. So roasting pumpkin seeds or actually mixing pumpkin with other types of squashes like acorn or butternut. One of my favorite seasonal, I love spaghetti squash. It's very low in calories, and you can make some really good ... . you can cut the spaghetti squash in half, bake it, and then add some beans and some ground turkey and some vegetables, and then rebake it and have a really nice spaghetti casserole, which is delicious and healthy.

One of my favorite fall things is chili. Load it up with every kind of bean that you can think of -- black beans, northern beans, pinto beans.Also, substituting like a ground turkey versus a hamburger, just to, again, lower the fat consumption. And then of course, roasting vegetables, parsnips, asparagus. And then, I love apple crisp, but I think one of the ways we can make apple crisp a little bit more healthy is making it with some almonds or some walnuts.

[00:08:07] Host Amber Smith: You've mentioned roasted vegetables a couple times. For people who are not really, they don't consider themselves cooks. How would you describe the process of roasting vegetables?

[00:08:20] Heather Dorsey, RD: So to roast a vegetable, you would take a sheet pan. You can line it with some aluminum foil. Pick your roasted vegetables of choice, whether it be parsnips, sweet potatoes, some different types of squashes. And then you would take a little bit a side of olive oil, and you can actually put a little bit of cinnamon in there and then baste the vegetables. And then just roast them in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit till they're a little al dente. And then just enjoy them. I wouldn't have to put anything else on them because you already used a little bit of the extra virgin olive oil as your healthy fat.

[00:08:57] Host Amber Smith: All right. Now, when cooking, do you have some ingredient swaps that can make a dish more healthy that you'd like to share?

[00:09:04] Heather Dorsey, RD: I do. And actually my recipes have one of the main ones, and that's when recipes call for sour cream, substituting in Greek yogurt. richer in protein, lower in calories. Another really good one, and this especially goes for a lot of the holidays that are coming up, we love mashed potatoes. What's a nice thing to do is either do mashed cauliflower, which some people don't like the flavor of, just the mashed cauliflower alone. So I always say, just try, go 50/50, do half mashed cauliflower, half mashed potatoes. Or even mix it in with mashed sweet potatoes. It lowersthe calorie point. It also lowers the starch, because potatoes are a more starchy vegetable.

Baking is a big thing for the holiday season. Switching out just your flour, using whole wheat flour versus all-purpose flour. And I always like to stress nuts with cooking, really ground-up almonds, walnuts, put them in pie crust or sprinkle them on top for a nice crumbly topping. It adds a lot of nutrition benefits and it goes a long way. Oil can be substituted with applesauce, preferably unsweetened applesauce. Butters can be substituted with nut butters or almond butters like peanut butter -- but look to make sure that your peanut butter and your almond butters are low in sugar.You can substitute pasta with zucchini noodles. That's a really good swap-out, and sometimes it makes the entree a little bit more colorful, which is nice and healthy, lower in calories and richer in fiber. Of course, that swap of white rice, if you're going to be serving white rice, maybe do brown rice or mix in brown rice with the white rice or even some wild rice. More vibrant colors and definitely higher in fiber and more nutritious.

Playing around with herbs, that's a big one that I think a lot of peoplereally need to try to incorporate into their diets because instead of using salt for flavor, really sampling, more cinnamon, more cumin, more tarragon, more even cayenne pepper, just putting some things into their items that are herb related versus adding salt for flavor.

And then, a good thing to put out for a sweet treat is definitely dark chocolate versus milk chocolate because it's definitely healthier for you as far as antioxidants are concerned.

[00:11:26] Host Amber Smith: Well, that's some good advice. You also mentioned that you have some recipes to share. What can you tell us?

[00:11:31] Heather Dorsey, RD: I do, I do. I wanted to really focus on when you're thinking about having to go over to a friend's or a family member's house or just going to a gathering, and you want to make sure that there are things that you can eat, like I was saying, a great veggie tray or a great fruit tray, and utilizing that Greek yogurt for a base for a dip.

So a really quick veggie dip based with Greek yogurt is a cup of Greek yogurt, a tablespoon of olive oil, a tablespoon of lemon, a little clove of garlic, a teaspoon of dried dill and a little bit of parsley. And then if you want to add a little heat to that dip, you can put a pinch of pepper flakes in it.

And likewise with the fruit tray. You can pair it with a delicious Greek yogurt-based dip. Again, start with a cup of Greek yogurt, two tablespoons of honey, a teaspoon of vanilla and a half a teaspoon of cinnamon. And those additives actually really have some deep health benefits with antioxidants and helping with blood sugar control. So that makes it a really healthy dip.

Two of my other favorites to bring that has a little bit more substance to it, is something called cowboy caviar. This is basically a black bean-based dip that you can use with tortilla chips, which are whole-grain corn. You get a can of no-salt black beans, a can of no-salt corn, a nice red pepper, one onion, one tomato, one avocado and a little bit of cilantro. Mix it all together, and you've got this really nice, almost like a high-fiber, vegetable-based dip that's going to keep you satisfied, but very low in calories and healthy for you. You can add some heat with a jalapeño if you want.

And then my go-to is always bringing some guacamole. Avocados are a really good rich source of omega 3's and a healthy fat. They definitely fill you up. So it would be just a couple avocados, a red onion, a couple cloves of garlic, a little bit of tomato, squeeze a lime, some cilantro. And again, if you want to add some heat, you can throw a jalapeño in there.

But just some quick and easy things that you can take to a gathering that you can have and take the pressure off of having maybe some of the more decadent things that the host might be serving. So it's just you're kind of putting yourself in the control seat of, OK, if I bring something that's healthy, I know that that's my go-to that I can go and have, andI won't feel guilty later on for overindulging.

[00:14:14] Host Amber Smith: Well, Ms. Dorsey, thank you so much for taking time to tell us about this and help us eat healthy during the holidays.

[00:14:20] Heather Dorsey, RD: You're welcome. It was my pleasure.

[00:14:23] Host Amber Smith: My guest has been Heather Dorsey, a registered dietitian from Upstate. "The Informed Patient" is a podcast covering health, science and medicine, brought to you by Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York, and produced by Jim Howe, with sound engineering by Bill Broeckel and graphic design by Dan Cameron. Find our archive of previous episodes at upstate.edu/informed. If you enjoyed this episode, please tell a friend to listen, too. And you can rate and review "The Informed Patient" podcast on Spotify, Apple podcasts, YouTube or wherever you tune in. This is your host, Amber Smith, thanking you for listening.

[00:15:09] Heather Dorsey, RD:

[00:15:18] Host Amber Smith: