Healthy Substitutions for High-Fat Holiday Food

Many people are on a low fat diet to help them maintain a healthy weight. Because of the high density of calories in fat, eating a low fat diet can help reduce total calories consumed and as a result help with weight management. Recently a patient of mine with heart disease who was about 30 pounds overweight asked me about how he could stay on his low fat diet during the holidays while still participating in all of his family's traditional holiday festivities. Here are some of the strategies we came up with.

First, always substitute skim or low fat dairy products for regular dairy products. For example, a traditional pumpkin pie recipe calls for a can of evaporated milk per pie. Regular evaporated milk has about 19 grams of fat per cup, compared to about half a gram for non-fat. This last year, for the first time, the cooks at our home (my daughter and I) substituted non-fat for regular evaporated milk, and nobody noticed any difference in taste, but the pies had almost 40 grams less fat each!

Eggnog is a favorite holiday drink that typically is full of fat, with about 10 grams a cup. Why not just substitute skim milk for regular milk in the recipe? Our family has never noticed the difference, but we've been able to cut out about 30 calories per serving by using skim instead of whole milk eggnog.

Another primary strategy is to substitute vegetables for meat, since meat can be a major source of fat. Simply make the focus of the meal the salad and vegetables, with the meat more of a side dish. For example, this year I was still able to enjoy the steak dinner at our church celebration, but I kept the meal low fat by eating all of my vegetables, and only eating half of the steak serving. I took home the rest of the steak and ate it later.

Frying meats, especially deep frying, can make meats very tasty but at the same time full of fat. Baking the meat, however, keeps in the taste but allows the fat to drain off. At our house, we use a small rack to hold the meat an inch or so above a pan that collects the fat. This way, the fat will drain away and not get cooked into the meat.

These simple strategies are easy to implement, and as a result easy to follow. First, always use low-fat or skim dairy products. When baking, the difference is hardly ever noticeable. Second, eat more vegetables while minimizing fatty meats such as ham and steak. Have a large serving of vegetables, with the meat or fish being more of a side dish. Finally, whenever possible, bake instead of fry.

REFERENCES

American Heart Association. American Heart Association Low-Fat, Low-Cholesterol Cookbook, 4th edition: Delicious Recipes to Help Lower Your Cholesterol. [2010]