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The Orion

Chico State's independent student newspaper

The Orion

Chico State's independent student newspaper

The Orion

Apple a day

Published 2004-10-27T00:00:00Z”/>

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Kendra Byrd<br>Health Columnist

<strong>Candy count</strong>

The trouble starts with Halloween, one of the few times of year that every store has aisles and aisles of floor-to-ceiling candy.

Once the permanent sugar high that is Halloween is over, Thanksgiving is here.

This day in itself might not be so bad, but the days that follow are filled with leftover turkey, pumpkin pie and all the other food from the feast made to feed 100 people, but actually ended up feeding 10.

When the last piece of turkey is eaten, the Christmas baking starts with fudge, cupcakes, sugar cookies and brownies. And to make it worse, they are all decoratively displayed on pretty cake platters sitting on the counter and tempting anyone who walks by.

What is a health-conscious person to do during these high-calorie, high-fat, high-sugar times?

Avoid all holiday gatherings in which food is involved? Hibernate for the months of November and December?

Of course not. Home-baked Christmas cookies are what make the season so enjoyable, and a few small changes to the holiday eating scheme should alleviate some of that over-eating guilt.

For example, when the after-Halloween candy sale hits all the stores in town, choose darker chocolate as opposed to lighter chocolate.

Sure, chocolate still packs a lot of fat and sugar, but darker chocolate has more disease-fighting phenols.

Indulge in pumpkin pie instead of apple to get a dose of beta-carotene.

Of course, getting extra nutrients in your Thanksgiving meal is nice, but how do you avoid eating enough calories to feed a small village?

On Thanksgiving Day, contrary to popular belief, calories do count. Plan ahead and work out in the morning, or at least try to stay active amidst the turkey preparation.

Once the feasting begins, go light on the gravy and butter. Pile on the veggies, and watch out for the cranberry sauce. Sure, it has some nutrients in it, but it has more calories per serving than ice cream.

During the Christmas season, small changes to some of your favorite recipes will help cut calories, fat and sugar without changing the taste too much.

Use nonfat or low fat milk or cut down the sugar the in a recipe by a third. If you’re feeling really adventurous, try making brownies with applesauce instead of butter or oil.

Don’t go crazy with the recipe substitutions however. Just try one substitution at a time to maintain the original flavor.

In fact, don’t go too crazy worrying about trying to cut calories and eating a perfectly healthy, low-calorie diet during the holiday months.

A recent study revealed that most people overestimate how much weight they will gain during the annual holiday season by as much as four or five pounds.

So stop worrying and eat that fudge. Just don’t eat the whole plate.

Kendra can be reached at

<a href= “mailto:[email protected]”>[email protected]</a>

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