I hope you’re going to have a great meal today. And don’t let all those politically correct “health” experts ruin it for you. The Thanksgiving meal we eat in America is one of the healthiest you can have. It’s a treasure trove of benefits.
Let’s take a look at just a few of the foods we eat on Thanksgiving:
Turkey: Like any meal that’s good for you, Thanksgiving is centered on protein. In this case, from turkey. I have a big, free-range turkey delivered to my house every year.
Wild turkeys forage on green leaves, grass, grass seeds, clover, berries and insects (grasshoppers, beetles and ants). Some of their other favorites include blackberry, buttercups and violets.
This native diet makes them one of the most nutritious birds for you to eat. A free-range turkey that has nutrients like:
Selenium: A proven cancer fighter.
Zinc: Found in almost every cell – essential for your immune system.
Niacin: Balances cholesterol, raises HDL.
Beta-carotene: Powerful antioxidant; lowers risk of cancer.
Vitamin B6: Helps your body make proteins and new cells; lowers homocysteine so you have a lower heart attack and stroke risk.
Vitamin B12: Essential for healthy nerve cells, red blood cells and DNA production.
Their caged counterparts don’t have quite as much of these nutrients, but you’ll still get a bunch, along with all the essential amino acids including tryptophan.
Tryptophan has a reputation for making us sleepy after the Thanksgiving meal, but that’s because it’s a precursor for serotonin. That’s a brain chemical that fights depression, and makes us feel relaxed and in control. So don’t worry if you want to sit on the sofa and relax a bit after you eat. It’s natural!
Pumpkins: Pumpkin pie is just about the tastiest thing you can eat on Thanksgiving. And don’t be afraid to have a slice or two. It’s not going to make you fat. It’s stuffing, white potatoes and cake that pack on the pounds.
Besides, pumpkins are filled with alpha-carotene. Beta-carotene gets all the press, and pumpkins have a lot of it, too. But its lesser-known cousin may be more important. A recent study followed over 15,000 people for nearly 20 years. Researchers made a shocking discovery. Those with the highest levels of alpha-carotene were 39 percent less likely to die from any cause than people with the lowest levels.1
The study also found that alpha-carotene protects you from cardiovascular disease and skin and liver cancer.
Squash: If you want to see the Turkey Day football game a little more clearly this year, eat some squash. It has lutein, zeaxanthin and other carotenoids which nourish the macula at the back of your eyes and are essential to vision clarity. They can even help you fight the strain your eyes get from staring at the TV.
You need at least 20 mg of lutein and at least one mg of zeaxanthin to make a difference in your eye health. Dark leafy vegetables in your Thanksgiving meal’s salad will give you loads of carotenoids, too.
Sweet Potatoes: Not only are they delicious, sweet potatoes have manganese. And if you want to supercharge your immune system, you want to make sure you get enough of this mineral.
That’s because it’s required for your body to make its most powerful antioxidant, superoxide dismutase (SOD). It’s your body’s “master” antioxidant, and its power to fight off free radicals is second to none. Compared to vitamin C, this nutrient is 3,500 times stronger.2
Sweet potatoes also have vitamin C, vitamin B6, plenty of fiber and loads of beta carotene. It’s important to get enough healthy fat with your sweet potato to make sure you absorb all its nutrients. Try sprinkling some olive oil on yours, or just eat the skin from the turkey.
Cranberries: For most of us, cranberries may be on the holiday menu only. But that cranberry sauce your Grandmother used to make is packed with antioxidants that prevent heart attacks and keep your arteries clear.
The phenolic acids and flavonoids in this fruit that’s native to America inhibit blood clots, reduce blood pressure, and are anti-inflammatory.3 In one study of people with heart disease, those drinking cranberry juice had better blood flow and more flexible arteries that more closely resembled a healthy person.4
Cranberries are also rich in fiber. That’s always a good thing to keep your digestive system moving after a Thanksgiving meal.
Sage: You probably know sage as a cooking spice. But it’s too good just to keep in your kitchen and break out only for your Thanksgiving turkey. Your ancient ancestors prized sage. They thought people who drank sage tea never got old. They called sage the “herb of immortality.”
Sage can have an incredible influence on your health. Not only can it make breathing problems and headaches go away very quickly, but it has a mental effect. It tends to be calming and somehow clarifying. You get a mental focus.
If you don’t believe it, just get some sage and try it. You break up sage and breathe it in, and right away you feel like you just woke up from a dream, or you went to the beach and just came back.
It seems to relieve you of whatever is bothering you. Sage is remarkable in that way. And you know, that’s what the Indians used it for. They used it to clarify the mind.
Sage is a known memory enhancer, too. In a recent study, they took a group of people and gave them either a placebo or Spanish sage. After only an hour, the sage group had improved performance on memory and attention tasks. They also had reduced mental fatigue and increased alertness that lasted for over four hours.5
There are 900 different types of sage, but the ones used for healing and wellness are garden sage (salvia officinalis) and Spanish sage (salvia lavandulaefolia).
You can use sage at home and get all its benefits, from clearer thinking to better sleep, a stronger immune system and even heart protection. Sage is easy to find, and it’s easy to use as often as you like.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD
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