Healthier Alternatives For Traditional Filipino Christmas Dinner

This Christmas we will cook and eat a lot of food. With a lot of choices, flavors, and textures it is really a season of feasting on many treats. And for Filipinos, we would go all-out in preparing a lot of dishes.

Since it is a special occasion, we usually whip out the best dishes we usually have every year.
With some new dishes introduced to keep up with the times. But since we are now eating a lot, we are now noticing the effects after the holidays. Weight gain, mild illness, and other side-effects come out after days of partying.

Though we did enjoy those days, we are now more conscious of our health. For us to achieve living a healthy lifestyle, we are now considering new alternatives that can still keep the festive mood with food that are less oil, salt, sugar, and fat.

One great alternative is to cooking with an Air Fryer. This uses less to no oil when cooking which is also an effective cooking them effectively and quickly. Another alternative is to mix in more vegetable dishes to the table like salads, vegetable rolls, and fruits are highly recommended.

Deep fried dishes can be substituted by steamed items like dumplings, pork buns, and you can also consider having Japanese dishes sushi, onigiri, and sashimi. You can also add fresh fruit juices as beverage which are full of vitamins and minerals as alternative for softdrinks. 

Choosing the ingredients also plays a big role in making them healthier. You can mix vegetables into meat dishes which gives it more flavor and even color. Consider having fish also on the table which is also a good source of other nutrients that most meat don't have. 

We can also level up our traditional dishes like spaghetti with ingredients like olive oil and plant-based meat which gives a healthier spin on our all-time favorites. And why not add in our vegetable meals like Pinakbet, gising-gising, dineng-deng to the table to make it more healthy. 

And for dessert, you may also consider throw in sliced fruits which is an alternative for candies. This gives the sweetness everyone wants yet also nutritious to munch on. 

Finally, keep in mind that despite  eating a lot this season, moderation is the still the key in eating to ensure that we do not go over in terms of calories and nutrition. Remember that too much of the good thing is also bad. 

Just take note that we must also take into consideration a lot of options in our goals in promoting healthy lifestyle. As diets and nutrition can vary from person to person, we can research and consult a doctor for the  best nutritional plan for us so we can truly benefit when shifting to these healthier alternatives. Christmas is also the best time to invest in quality tools for cooking, for more info check out Beko Appliances at beko.com/ph-en

Hope you enjoy the holidays online and offline with your family and friends with these tips!