insideKENT Magazine Issue 81 - December 2018 | Page 100
CHRISTMAS
Go On…Indulge cont.
TURKEY
The turkey, the great centrepiece of your laden
Christmas table, is a strange thing. We don’t
tend to eat it (much) at other times of the year,
but at Christmas it is everywhere, and we eat
it in various guises for days on end. And that,
perhaps, is something we should try
throughout the year as well because turkey
holds some rather interesting health benefits.
• Turkey is wonderfully rich in vitamin B6,
protein, niacin and tryptophan (an essential
amino acid). To a lesser degree you’ll also
find vitamin B12 and zinc in there too. Plus,
without the skin turkey is low in fat. Lovely!
• Turkey contains selenium, which is a trace
mineral known for its anti-cancer properties.
As a bonus, selenium also helps to keep your
thyroid (and therefore your metabolism)
working properly, helping you to lose weight
when you exercise and eat well.
• Cholesterol is something we’re all told to
watch out for, but the problem is that it is
absolutely everywhere, in pretty much
everything we eat. Turkey, however, has very
little of it, making it one of the healthiest
meats there is (turkey contains less
cholesterol than beef, pork and even chicken).
• Turkey makes us feel good! It might be for
this reason that Christmas dinner is always
such a jolly affair (of course, it could be the
wine). Tryptophan, that amino acid
mentioned earlier, produces serotonin which
is known as the ‘happy hormone’. This
hormonal neurotransmitter reduces the
amount of cortisol (the stress hormone) in
your body and improves your mood.
Tryptophan is also something that helps to
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strengthen the immune system and it is
perfect for aiding chronic insomnia.
• Vitamin B6 and niacin combine to aid our
body in creating energy, converting all the
fats, carbohydrates and proteins for us to use.
Without this, we’ll feel sluggish and unwell,
plus we’ll put on weight.
BRUSSELS SPROUTS
Love ’em or loathe ’em, Christmas dinner just
isn’t the same without them – the good ol’
Brussels sprout. Being a vegetable, it’s clear
that these little green balls of bitterness/
tastiness have some health benefits, but there
is more to them than that.
• Brussels are high in all kinds of nutrients
such as protein, carbohydrates, fibre, vitamins
A, C and K, folate and manganese. Vitamin
K is needed for blood clotting and healthy
bones, and vitamin C is required for a healthy
immune system.
• Sprouts are absolutely bursting with
antioxidants too. Antioxidants are
compounds that help to lower your risk of
developing chronic disease and sprouts are
particularly rich in an antioxidant called
kaempferol. Kaempferol has been shown to
reduce the growth of some cancer cells,
make the heart healthier and ease muscle
inflammation such as might be caused
through arthritis, for example.
• We’ve already mentioned that sprouts are
high in fibre, but do you know why this is a
good thing? It’s because fibre helps to keep
your gut and digestive tract nice and healthy
– basically, it stops you from getting
constipated. As well as being something that
no one wants to talk about, constipation is
more than just being uncomfortable; it can
lead to some serious problems and could
even mean that you need to be hospitalised.
Remember, we may laugh because the
sprouts are giving Grandad wind, but all it
means is that they’re doing their job and we
should be glad about that…
• Having healthy blood sugar levels is all-
important, and Brussels sprouts can help
with that too, even potentially reducing your
risk of developing type II diabetes. Again,
this could be linked to the amount of fibre
they contain, because fibre is fantastic at
regulating blood sugar levels because it
moves so slowly through the body before it
is digested (this means it slows how much
sugar is absorbed into your blood). But
sprouts also contain alpha-lipoic acid, which
studies have shown is also effective at
lowering blood sugar and helping to produce
insulin.
CARROTS
The one fact that most people are able to tell
you about carrots is that they help you see in
the dark. Whilst they do have some health
benefits for your eyes, they can do a lot more
besides.
• Carrots contain loads of beta-carotene which,
studies have discovered, is linked to reducing
the risk of both breast, lung and colon cancer,
and you only need to consume around 2
milligrams of beta-carotene a day to feel the
effects. Since one medium sized carrot
contains about 3 milligrams, it isn’t a hard
thing to do.