The holiday season means heavy, rich treats that are eaten during gatherings, often causing bloating, indigestion, and even weight gain over time. Use our simple cooking tips to help modify your treats to keep you and your family healthy during this festive season.

Review food labels whenever you shop for groceries, checking nutritional facts on products, including information on the per serving amount of saturated fat, trans fat, added sugars, cholesterol, sodium and other ingredients that can trigger health concerns.

Alternative ingredients

Try to get your sugar from natural produce such as fruits, avoiding other unhealthy alternatives such as sugary beverages or sweets. Substitute apple puree for butter in desserts wherever possible.

Instead of using heavy cream, include semi-skimmed and skimmed dairy products more often in your daily diet to help reduce your fat intake.

Choose lean white meat like chicken and fish more often than red meat.

Include onion and garlic in your cooking. These are powerful immune-boosters as they are a rich source of phyto-nutrients, which also help detoxify carcinogens.

Snack on almonds and walnuts which are excellent sources of vitamin E that fight off the harmful effects of free radicals. These nuts are also rich in vitamin B6 and healthy fats.

Give preference to healthy oils such as olive oil, canola oil, corn oil, or sunflower oil rich in Vitamin E, a natural antioxidant.

Wherever possible, add flaxseed to your diet. A rich source of omega-3 fatty acids, add these to your home-made breads or muffins, either as whole seeds or ground. A good way to enjoy them would be to sprinkle some on your breakfast cereal and milk in the morning.

Add spices and natural herbs rich in antioxidants such as rosemary, sumac, cumin, cinnamon, turmeric, basil, and thyme, to boost and enhance flavor.