10 Key Nutrition Tips for the Holiday

Acıbadem Bakırköy Hospital Nutrition and Dietetics Specialist Sıla Bilgili Tokgöz shared with us the precautions we should take during holiday visits.

Low-Sugar and Dairy Desserts Instead of Syrup-Based Sweets

It is beneficial to serve your holiday guests healthier desserts instead of sugar and chocolate. "Dried fruits, dates or figs with walnuts added will be both very tasty and healthy treats. In addition, you can cool and serve strawberries dipped in dark chocolate," says Nutrition and Dietetics Specialist Sıla Bilgili Tokgöz, listing other recommendations as follows: "Another important point to pay attention to during the holiday is serving low-sugar and dairy desserts instead of syrup-based sweets. For example, you can prepare cakes from whole wheat flour and sweeten them with sugar-free fruit. You can also serve sugar-free compotes to replace the water your body loses through sweat due to excessive heat"

Start Your Day with a Light Breakfast

Since we are accustomed to eating little during suhoor and miss breakfast, we may find ourselves at a lavish breakfast table during the holiday. However, to avoid health problems, it is very important to start the holiday morning with a healthy and light breakfast consisting of cheese, olives, homemade jam, whole grain breads, eggs and fresh vegetables.

Pay Attention to Your Main Meal

One of the mistakes we make during the holiday is treating the desserts served during visits as a main meal. Getting through the main course with sweets leads to faster hunger, higher calorie and sugar consumption, and as a result, weight gain. Preparing a main meal consisting of light foods will also help you have better control over holiday refreshments. You Can Consume Fruit Teas or Linden Tea Consuming too much tea and coffee causes you to lose more fluids due to the diuretic effect of caffeine it contains. It can cause palpitations, anxiety, insomnia and digestive system problems. Therefore, limit your tea and coffee consumption to 2-3 cups during the holiday and avoid using sugar. Instead of tea and coffee, you can consume fruit teas like rosehip or linden tea. If you do not have blood pressure problems, you can also choose mineral water.  

Stay Away from This Trio!

Baklava, pies, fried foods... Although they are all delicious, think again before eating these foods! Because sugary, floury and fatty foods cause heartburn, diarrhea, constipation, increases in blood triglyceride levels and weight gain. Additionally, the refined flour they contain can cause imbalances in blood sugar. Nutrition and Dietetics Specialist Sıla Bilgili Tokgöz notes that you should stay away from this trio during the holiday to protect your health and weight, stating, "If insistence during holiday visits encourages you to eat, be careful to consume these types of foods in small portions"

Prepare Beverages with Fresh Fruits and Cinnamon Bark

Acidic beverages contain no beneficial nutrients. Moreover, they can also damage stomach structure. Therefore, instead of acidic beverages, you can prepare sugar-free compotes, homemade fruit juice or low-sugar homemade lemonade by boiling fresh fruits with cinnamon bark. Cinnamon leaves a mildly sweet aroma, so your need for sugar is reduced. For example, you can make fruit juice with 1 apple, 1 pear, 10 cherries and 1 litre of water. Put the apple and pear you have blended into the water. Then blend the pitted cherries with this water as well. Serve cold.

Eat Fruits with Their Skin

During holiday visits, to reduce sweet cravings, be sure to have snacks. For example, to increase satiety further with fruit, you can consume oily seeds (hazelnut, almond, walnut, etc.) alongside it. This way you won't arrive at visits hungry, and you can reduce your dessert and pastry consumption. If you do not have digestion problems, it is beneficial to eat vegetables like tomatoes and cucumbers and peelable fruits with their skin on. This way your fiber intake also increases, and since foods leave the stomach more slowly, you will feel full for longer.

Fiber-Rich Foods Are Essential

When we consume the desserts served during the holiday, our blood sugar rises quickly and falls just as quickly, so we feel hungry again as if we had consumed nothing. Nutrition and Dietetics Specialist Sıla Bilgili Tokgöz notes that fiber-rich foods, on the other hand, leave the stomach more slowly and therefore keep us full for longer, saying, "Because they have a low glycemic index (blood sugar raising value), they do not disrupt blood sugar balance either. Fiber-rich foods also prevent constipation and bloating." For example, you can add dried legumes (dry beans, chickpeas, lentils, etc.) to your salads or dishes. This way your salad becomes both high in fiber and satisfying. You can create side dishes from high-fiber vegetables like spinach, okra and zucchini to serve with meat dishes. You can increase your fiber intake by adding purslane and dill to your yogurts.

Drink Plenty of Water

Because the period between iftar and suhoor is short, the amount of water you need may not be met. Therefore, during the holiday, especially on these hot summer days, never neglect consuming 30 ml of water per kilogram of body weight.

30-Minute Walks in the Morning and Evening

If you took a break from exercise during Ramadan, be sure to increase your daily movement. Try to burn off the extra calories you consume during holiday visits through physical activity. However, after a month of fasting, be careful to adjust the intensity of exercise on these hot days. Initially, 30-minute walks every morning and evening will support you.