Dealing with the Holidays When Eating for Your Heart
For goodness sakes, life isn't worth living if you can't indulge yourself
at this time of year. Go ahead and eat those salty peanuts.
Have a second helping of pie. Drink that eggnog. You only
what well-meaning loved ones tell you? Is this what you tell
put a damper on your holiday, but a study published in the
journal Circulation in 1999 showed the death rate from heart
attacks rises right after Thanksgiving and continues until
the New Year, when it peaks. While colder temperatures have
been associated with increased heart attack death rate, participants
in this particular study lived in southern California, where
the temperature rarely drops below 50 degrees.
the study's researchers suggested that "increased food, alcohol
and salt consumption" may contribute to the higher death rate
during the holidays. Doesn't this information make it seem
worthwhile to try to keep yourself in control?
the parties, the traditional meals, the New Year's celebrations
and the family get-togethers this season, keep these ideas
you don't know can hurt you.
looking at a table full of rich appetizers and desserts, it's
easy to eat everything in sight if you don't know about the
fat and calories the food contains. You can be fairly certain
that eating generous amounts of creamy, cheesy, buttery, sugary
foods is going to use up more calories than you should probably
eat in a day. Red meat is high in fat and calories too. A
small slice of roast beef has just over 200 calories. A slice
of cheesecake has 372 calories. Just standing around the table
eating chips can be a diet buster. Chips are full of saturated
and hydrogenated fat. One serving, the size of a small bag,
has about 160 calories.
look at the food, stop and think for just a moment about whether
it's worth the risk to your heart. The food is gone in an
instant, but the cumulative effects can have quite an impact.
people who will support you.
be tremendously helpful when you're at a party to tell at
least one person that you're going to try to eat only healthy
foods. Just telling that one person makes you feel like you
have to go through with what you've said you'll do. It's also
nice to have the moral support.
sure you know what's good for you.
nutritional knowledge could use a little boost, talk to a
nutritionist or dietitian. They can also recommend a good
book that can serve as a handy reference as you learn what's
healthy and what's to be avoided. Find out how much fat and
calories you should be eating, and then read food labels.
If you do this regularly, eventually you'll get a good feel
for what's in your food and how much you should be eating.
This knowledge can help you choose the best foods for you
at parties-fish instead of beef, plenty of vegetables, fruit
instead of dessert, etc.
forget the importance of regular exercise. It's harder to
fit exercise in at this time of year, but don't sacrifice
it in favor of parties. Squeeze in a walk during your lunch
hour, before you go to work or before the party.
Circulation, 11 October 1999; R. Cicala. The Heart Disease
Source Book. Lowell House/Contemporary Publishing Group, Inc.
Los Angeles, California90067, 1998.