This article appeared in the Oct. 7, 2005 Jewish Advocate.

A happy and a healthy: Revamp your holiday fare for truly sweet years

BY SUSIE DAVIDSON

Given the track record of most New Year’s resolutions, maybe it’s not such a bad thing that they aren’t generally made on Rosh HaShana. However, the basic concept behind the most popular one, to get in shape and eat healthier, is always in style.

According to the National Jewish Medical and Research Center, based in Denver, “being overweight…puts you at higher risk for many diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure.” And thanks to new food choices and increased nutritional awareness, it only takes a few tweaks to reinvent diet and lifestyle for this, and future holiday seasons. Apples and honey? Fine. No fat, minimal sodium content.

But on from there, let’s start with the main dish, which is often chicken. Did you know that Kosher oven-ready parts, while skinless, can be covered with shortening? Believe it. Go for the BBQ sauce style instead, which has no added fat. Always broil. This goes for traditional fried treats too. Forget frying altogether and learn to sauté with minimal canola or olive oil. Latkes, patties, croquettes, all take kindly to the convenient sprays. Add egg whites to the mix to hold it together, and shredded veggies. Applesauce, low or nonfat sour cream, cranberry sauce, jelly – all fat free accompaniments.

Cottonseed and peanut oils, standard in Kosher cuisine, are unsaturated, and usually partly hydrogenated. Hydrogenization increases their melting points, making them ideal for cooking but deadly to arteries. The process converts liquid oil to a solid form and creates trans fats, which act like saturated in the body. Trans fats are rampant in commercial baked goods and processed convenience foods; read labels and buy “no trans fat.”

Slice potatoes thinly and stir-fry with cut up veggies. Add mushrooms, onions and some sliced almonds to brown rice. Put together a low-fat stuffing with whole grain breads, apples, raisins, some nuts or seeds, and bake it separately. Delish!

While the new U.S. Government food pyramid can appear cryptic, the underlying premises are sound. Emphasize fruits and vegetables (5 to 9 servings per day, and feel free to substitute dried, frozen, canned or juice for a couple – whatever it takes). Their antioxidants keep arteries in the heart from accumulating plaque.

Color your world with sweet potatoes, cantaloupe, carrots, squash, pineapple, dark green leafies. All are Kosher and plentiful.

Here’s a reality bite - challah is white bread. But fear not – whole wheat challah is now available, or if nearly all your bread products are 100 percent whole grain (read the labels – it must say 100 percent), you can still have your challah.

Whole grains are paramount for health, and these days, you can’t lose, with all the new, tasty whole-grain rolls, breads, crackers, cereals, chips and snacks, pastas and noodles. Low-fat or air-popped popcorn counts too. 6 servings a day of these.

But nix the butter, full-fat spreads, oily sauces and mayo and use the leaner versions sparingly, along with spices to jazz things up. The key is to begin to taste food in its natural state, and get used to it. Our taste buds have been hijacked by salt and fat for too long. Let’s break free and taste food as G-d intended it to be tasted!

The rest should center around the equivalent of three cups of skim milk a day of low-fat dairy, and 5.5 ounces of low-fat protein such as fish (rich in the prized Omega-3 fatty acids, found especially in salmon, tuna, blue fish, sardines, herring and mackerel), poultry, tofu, beans and meat substitutes (if you eat meat, limit to two palm-sized portions of a lean cut per week).

Nuts and peanut butter are OK in small doses. Stay away from the salty fish spreads, the creamed this or that, the whole-fat cream, hard, cottage, farmer’s and other cheeses. Get used to non- or low fat versions and the myriad delicious flavors of yogurt, which, with its acidophilus and other “friendly bacteria” cultures, is manna to intestinal health.

For sweets, make friends with vanilla and chocolate angel cake, low or nonfat muffins, nonfat frozen yogurt (again out there in lots of deceptively rich-tasting varieties), meringue cookies, lady fingers, marshmallows, No Pudge brownies. It’s not cheating; if you do the above, you’ll have about 300 free calories.

Don’t deprive yourself – the average person can go ahead and eat 2000-2200 calories a day - but choose wisely. Divide into frequent small meals, eating more earlier in the day and less later. Noshing is better for your blood sugar and quickly acclimates your stomach to get used to never being too stuffed.

National Jewish sums it up thusly: “Good nutrition involves choosing healthy foods that can work to heal and repair your body and make it stronger against disease.” You might want to do some research into the benefits of organic foods (many now at Kosher markets), and the hazards of toxic chemicals found in household cleaning and personal care products, and opt for the safer, natural route.

Wear sunblock or the new sun-protective clothing, get an air cleaner, floss and rubber tip your teeth daily and wash your hands frequently. Sleep 8 hours; if you have trouble, try cutting out coffee after the morning, or better yet, switch to good-quality brewed decaf.

These changes, plus a daily hour’s walk and perhaps some arm weights three times a week (a flexible stick is very portable and easy), will in time normalize your system. You won’t be able to put it away like you used to, you will breathe, feel and function better, you’ll crave the right foods, and you will truly reflect the blessings of the season.

Recommended: Healthy Jewish Cooking, by Steven Raichlen