Whats the Healthiest Thanksgiving Food Item?

Healthiest in what way? The turkey will have the most protein followed by the ham. Cranberry sauce will have a ton of antioxidants. Dressing? Guess it depends on how you make it. I use sourdough which is fermented and good for gut bacteria...I also use a lot of herbs and cucumber and mushrooms. Deviled eggs? I eat eggs every stinkin' day, so I don't see anything wrong with them. Contrary to popular belief, potatoes are an excellent source of nutrition, particularly vitamin C and potassium and they're a pretty decent source of veg protein as well. Leave the skins on for even more nutrients and fiber. Green beans...it's a vegetable, lots of good micro-nutrition. I only drink diet sodas, so that one would be completely irrelevant.

When talking nutrition, you can't really put things in a vacuum. You have to look at nutrition in the context of the whole. Personally, I don't find there to be anything inherently unhealthy in a traditional holiday feast...really, the issue is the feasting and overindulgence itself, not individual food items.

What's the reasoning behind the question?

Individual foods, with only a few exceptions like trans fats, aren't healthy or unhealthy, IMO. Overall ways of eating (averaged over a day or few) can be relatively more or less healthy.

Context and dosage matter: Virtually any non-poisonous food can make a needful nutritional contribution, in the right context. Even pure sugar can be a godsend to the ultra-runner during an event, y'know, because bonking (a.k.a. hitting the wall) is not a good or healthy thing.

Everything on your list except *maybe* soda (unless running a marathon on the holiday or something) seems reasonably nutritionally useful to me, in reasonable portions/proportions. Even the soda isn't the end of the world, it just doesn't add much other than calories, nutritionally speaking, and our holiday context usually provides plenty of calories without it. I grant that the turkey and a few other things would probably cause me personally some digestive distress, because I haven't eaten meat (intentionally anyway) since 1974. But most people wouldn't have that problem.

No vote at all from me.

My choice was 'turkey'. However, for me - it's not. I'm a vegetarian lol! I'll pick the sweet potatoes or beans w/out all the stuff that is typically added them. Just steam or roasted would be my pick.

Healthy in what way? AND also how something is prepared could make a huge difference on how "healthy" an item is...like...sweet potatoes loaded with marshmallows vs. a savory nut topping would have different calorie AND nutrient profiles.

It's Thanksgiving and it's once a year so I don't worry about it. I'll have a plate of stuffing, please.

rosebarnalice wrote: »

If I make them, it's the green beans since I don't add fat or meat. Second would be my cranberry sauce, made with fresh cranberries, one orange, a heap of celery, and just a dash of stevia.

I also make pretty clean dressing with vegan cornbread (no oil or butter), and tons of celery, onions and sage. Topped with mushroom gravy, it's my favorite part of the meal :-)

What time do I come over for this!? 😄

For me, it is brussels sprouts. When I used to eat meat, I would put turkey up there too. This year I’m making a lentil loaf which is pretty darned healthy.

I cook for my in-laws - 20 of them. I looked back and last year I apparently had stuffing and mashed potatoes for lunch and booked 400 calories so it wasn't very much of either. Then for dinner I had 4oz turkey breast, jellied cranberry sauce from the can, Brussels sprouts, and a little gravy. Another 450 calories. I weighed 177, now 172. Maybe a little desert this year.

Turkey is the most nutritious. I'm on turkey Spam now. 2oz = 80 calories.