5 Foods to Avoid this Holiday Season

The season – the month – has begun, and people from all over are cooking, baking and stuffing their faces with holiday foods. Did you know that the average person consumes an extra 600 calories a day during the Holidays?! No matter where you live or where you go, you can’t miss it. The Holiday foods will find their way into your belly and when January comes, you are going to be googling Detox diets, Whole 30, The 21 Day Sugar Detox, Weight Watchers, Insanity…you get the picture. But it’s all fun and it’s only once a year. I hear you, I really do. I never claim to be 100% Paleo, in fact I’ve declared that I never will be 100% Paleo. However, when you are splurging this Holiday season and indulging in “junkier” foods, remember what these 5 most terrible foods are and try to avoid them for your health.

5 Foods to Avoid this Holiday Season: 

1. Store-bought Egg Nog 

There’s nothing like a Holiday drink that is loaded with seaweed extract, high fructose corn syrup, and just a little egg. Yes, that is the ingredients of store-bought Egg Nog. You really didn’t think you were going to get a high quality traditional drink from a carton, did ya? The only thing healthy about this drink is the possibility that there are some of the traditional spices in it. However, this picture I snapped didn’t even have spices in it.

Make Your Own: 

• Coconut Milk Eggnog from The Coconut Mama
• Raw Egg Nog from CHEESESLAVE

2. Store-bought Cookies, Pies and Holiday Treats 

Bottom line, these will all contain vegetable oils or vegetable shortening. Not sure why this is bad? I mean it’s made from a vegetable, right? First off, it is loaded with trans fats (found in partially hydrogenated oils) which the FDA has recently declared unsafe for human consumption. GASP! They did something right! And, second, they have nothing to do with vegetables, but are loaded with weird stuff like soy, rapeseed(WTH!) and processed in really unnatural ways.

Make Your Own: 

• Paleo Pie Crust from Meatified
• Grain-Free Pie Crust from Healy Real Food Vegetarian
• 20+ Gluten-Free & Grain-Free Holiday Christmas Cookie Recipes from Don’t Mess With Mama

3. Gift Sausages and Other Processed Meats 

I’ve never trusted any meat that require no refrigeration. That’s just plain wacko. Makes me question how they are able last so long. SODIUM NITRATE. Sodium nitrate is a preservative found in many packaged meats that keep the meat fresh and pretty. Rotting meat doesn’t look or taste too good. Sodium nitrate has, also, been linked to cancer. These pretty cancer packages can be found in shopping malls during the Holiday season and inside pretty, little gift baskets. I’m not sure why these make a good Christmas gift…why not try giving something a little less “poisoning” and a little more homemade?

What to give instead: 

• Cardamon Fig Chia Jam from Savory Lotus
• Homemade Apple Sauce with Coconut Sugar from me!
• Coconut Oil Sugar Scrub from Veggie Converter
• Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix from Whole Lifestyle Nutrition
• Grass-fed Tallow Balm from Stupid Easy Paleo

4. Those Giant Tubs of Caramel Popcorn 

I know they are sooooo good. Trust me, this is my biggest weakness during the Holiday season. Just one bite turns into 20 bites. But listen, corn is the number one food that is genetically modified. Read this for all the ways generically modified food is dangerous for you. And these tubs of popcorn, aren’t just popcorn. They are saturated with “carmel” sauce that includes ingredients like high fructose corn syrup and artificial flavorings.

Make Your Own: 

• Sweet-and-Salty Coconut Chips from Whole Lifestyle Nutrition
• Kale Chips from Homemade Mommy
• Nori (seaweed) Chips from Chris Kresser

5. Stuffing in a Box

The problem with store bought stuffing is that they contain questionable ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup and monosodium glutamate, or MSG. MSG has a whole long list of dangerous side effects and is one of the most dangerous additives to food.

Make Your Own: 

• Italian Meat Stuffing from me!
• GAPS Thanksgiving Stuffing from CHEESESLAVE
• 19 Amazing Holiday Sides from Gastronomical Sovereignty

 

I hope you all have a fantastic Holiday season and make the best decisions that you can for your health!

 

Jackie

(Photo Credit: WebMd)

 

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