The holidays – it’s sometimes seen as a green light to indulge in all kinds of foods that are sometimes not the healthiest. You might not think it’s a big deal to ditch the rulebook for a couple of weeks (or longer), but according to Health.com, the average person in the U.S. can pack on up to 2-pounds from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day.
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While gaining a pound or two is definitely not the end of the world, there are other health considerations with popular holiday foods such as saturated fats from heavy creams and butter that can raise cholesterol levels that can impact heart health. With that being said, you don’t have to give up indulging this season – you can just make some healthier substitutes while still getting tons of flavor. Here are some suggestions…
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Sour Cream vs. Greek Yogurt
Sour cream is an ingredient in many holiday dishes to provide that rich, comforting flavor that helps us forget how cold it is outside. It can be part of a sauce, or can be added to mashed potatoes – and we don’t need to tell you how delicious that makes it.
However, while sour cream packs 193-calories per 100-grams according to the USDA, you can lower that number and still get the rich texture by subbing it for plain Greek yogurt. You probably won’t be able to tell the difference once it’s included with the other ingredients and seasoning, and this yogurt has only 59-calories per 100-grams according to the same source.