Eat, Drink, and Avoid Christmas Weight Gain

If you have a lot of holiday parties and events this month, experts with the Cincinnati Nutrition Council say you can eat, drink and be merry without growing your gut. In Local 12's Medical Edge, Liz Bonis explains how.

Lauren Niemes, a registered dietitian says expanding your eating options now and the rest of the year can actually help you shrink your gut rather than grow it. She agrees with a new report in Men's Health which shows most of eat pretty boring diets which leads to pigging out at the holidays. "Often when people restrict foods from their diet or limit them to one time of the year, or one special occasion, they might tend to overeat or binge, when they are exposed to it".

Niemes suggests you simply swap up a few foods. So make your list and check it twice, and if you do want to eat the foods that are good for you this holiday season, here's the list recommended, these are higher in nutrition, and a little lower in calories than some of your traditional choices, which makes them a little more slimming in the holiday season.

For example instead of always eating an apple why not try a persimmon this time of year. It's a soft juicy fruit that has even more vitamin C. Each fruit or vegetable or plant food has a unique profile of vitamins, minerals and antioxidant and so it's important to eat a variety to make sure you are getting the health benefits of all of these fruits, vegetables and nutrients.

Next instead of broccoli, try bok choy, it has half the calories and carbohydrates.

Instead of steak try seafood, it has more good fats for your heart. And don't forget to swap up your oatmeal for maybe another grain such as buckwheat, it has even more nutrients to fight disease.

There's a whole world of whole grains out there that people don't normally include in their diet.



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Health tip of the day: Benefits of passion fruit

The passion fruit, native to South America has many amazing health benefits to all who eat this sweet and aromatic fruit. Passion fruit was a staple of Aztec society and once Spanish missionaries laid eyes on the blossoms of the passion fruit, they named it thus as they said that the blossoms resembled the crown of thorns on Christ's head during the crucifixion.

Passion fruit has a very aromatic smell and can either be yellow or purple on the outside. The skin of the passion fruit is wrinkly and its pulp is a yellow, jelly-like substance with black seeds.

Now, one of the many health benefits of passion fruit is that its seeds (one cup) contains almost 25 grams of fibre. Passion fruit seeds are a great source of fibre that the body needs to cleanse the colon, improve digestion, and help prevent heart attacks and strokes. Fibre attaches itself to the buildup found in the colon wall, pulls it out and makes the colon clean and clear from disturbances. This makes it easier for the body to digest food and in the long run, prevents the development of colon cancer. A similar process takes place in the valves of the heart whereby fibre flushes out the buildup of fat and cholesterol in the heart, protecting the body against heart attacks, heart disease and strokes.


Passion fruit also benefits those who eat it by providing the body with high doses of Vitamin A and C. Vitamin A helps the body to remove free radicals that cause skin and tissue damage, and it helps to improve our vision. Meanwhile Vitamin C helps to repair tissue, helps prevent heart disease and cancer and helps our bones.

A 2008 study found that subjects who took passion fruit extracts and who suffer from asthma, got relief from symptoms of coughing and wheezing by 76 percent. The antioxidants found in passion fruit is believed to block histamine, reduce allergy and inflammation; passion fruit therefore has the health benefit of reducing the symptoms of asthma.

The antioxidant and flavonoid found in passion fruit have also been found by some researchers at the University of Florida to inhibit the growth of cancer cells.



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