Dear Marci,
I love the holidays. It’s my favorite time of year but I eat too much of the wrong foods and I gain weight, mess up my gut, I am always exhausted, stressed, and could be happier. Then there are so many social gatherings and they all include food, lots of it, and it is really easy to start eating more of the bad stuff and then I can’t stop. How do I survive the holidays with my health and my gut intact? Please help!
Looking for more Holiday Cheer
Dear Looking for More Holiday Cheer,
Have faith, the holidays can still be the most wonderful time of year. The twinkling lights, the nostalgic music, and the family traditions and celebrations are all evocative, often transporting us back to our childhood. For me, I’m remembering the week long preparation for our Feast of Seven Fishes celebration on Christmas Eve.
My mother would cook for the entire week; soaking the salt cod, for the baccala cakes, in water to remove the excess salt so they would be perfect, and stuffing fresh clams, cleaning the smelts, and, in a small cast iron pan, one by one, she would hand make the pasta shells for the manicotti, because, when you are Italian you always need a side of pasta. “Sharing good food is the greatest gift, it makes people happy,” she would tell me as she filled the pasta shells with homemade ricotta. Our kitchen was the family hub during the holiday season. It smelled like love and I never wanted to leave.
But even the most wonderful time of year does not feel so festive when our gut is messed up and we are tired and sad. And let’s face, as much as Norman Rockwell painted the picture perfect holiday, in reality, there is a lot of stress related to the traditions, festivities, and the cultural and family obligations. All of us, no matter what we celebrate during the season, soon realize, the impact the holiday season can have on our bodies and minds.
But when you believe in the power of food, you can begin to understand how to use food to support your body during times of stress, and quite simply, how to be healthier, happier, and yes, even much more festive.
Especially during the holidays when food is abundant, time is not, and it is a lot more difficult to find the right balance, it is helpful to have a strategy that includes go-to foods to calm the physical and mental impact the holiday chaos can have on our our bodies and minds. To start, focus on eating healthy and use the 80/20 rule, eating high quality foods with the optimal nutritional profile 80% percent of the time, and allowing for some wiggle room for the desired treats 20% of the time. Try to keep portion sizes reasonable, alcohol consumption limited, and remember to to eat your healthy fats, complex carbs and protein. Protein will stabilize your cravings for the wrong foods, keep your insulin levels more consistent, and sustain your body for a longer period, making it easier to participate in holiday festivities without overdoing it.
And since the holidays is all about the the spirit of giving, my Dark Chocolate Cranberry Sauce is the perfect gift for more holiday cheer and much, much, more power.
Starting with chocolate and cranberries, the nutritional base of this recipe delivers all you need to help your gut, your energy level, and your emotional well-being. Especially dark chocolate, with a much higher level of antioxidants and magnesium then milk chocolate, it can help to regulate and stabilize mood, decrease anxiety and depression, and make us feel more calm and centered. Adding the cranberries intensifies the benefits and, just like cranberries are great for getting rid of the bacteria in our urinary tract, they also put good bacteria back into our gut, keeping our digestive system healthy and strong during the holiday season.
I’m feeling extra festive this year, so I’ve added ginger root and turmeric root to this recipe. The curcumin in turmeric, and gingerol in ginger, are natural anti-inflammatories and have significant medicinal properties, all of them great for improving our physical and mental health any time of the year. This Dark Chocolate Cranberry Sauce is pure magic so, in honor of my mother’s words, make extra, and share this with the people you love. It will make them very happy!
Dark Chocolate Cranberry Sauce
½ cup organic agave
⅓ cup organic unsweetened dark cacao powder
1 cup organic cream
1 cinnamon stick
1 vanilla bean
2 ounces organic dark chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup cranberry ginger puree
1 tsp freshly ground sea salt
Combine first 3 ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat and whisk until blended.
Slice open vanilla bean, scrape seeds and add seeds and entire pod to pan with one whole cinnamon stick. Stir constantly, bringing to a low boil on stovetop. Reduce heat, and simmer, for about 2 minutes and then remove from heat, adding dark chocolate and cranberry ginger puree, stirring until sauce is smooth. Let sit for at least thirty minutes for the cinnamon and vanilla beans to infuse and then remove cinnamon stick and vanilla pod, stir, and sprinkle with sea salt. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Cranberry Ginger Puree
1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
1 cup water
2 TBS freshly grated ginger root
2 TBS freshly grated turmeric root
1 TBS pure vanilla
In a small sauce pan bring cranberries and water to a slow boil. Lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Add ginger root, turmeric root and vanilla and simmer on low for 10 minutes more, remove from heat let cool for 10 minutes. Puree in food processor until blended and then add a sprinkle of black pepper. The black pepper allows for absorption of the nutritional benefits of the turmeric.
