Eating too much during the holidays is a well-documented fact. It is purported that the average American will gain one or two pounds from Thanksgiving through the New Year. That doesn’t sound like much unless, of course, you do it every year. Then it can be problematic. There is no shortage of tips about controlling your holiday intake of food; they range from keeping up or ramping up your exercise regiment, portion control, don’t go to holiday parties, starving, and trying to avoid stress as best you can, which isn’t always easy during the holiday season. Unfortunately, stress can throw us off our game and cause us to eat more and exercise less.
But the one thing that can really upset the apple cart is alcohol. We can’t tell you to not have a spirit in the spirit of the season, but here’s why it’s doubly disastrous in regard to weight gain. First, most alcoholic drinks are loaded with calories and because we drink them, and don’t eat them, we tend to not consider the amount of high calories we’re ingesting. Second, because alcohol lowers inhibitions and increases temptations, we might be more tempted to hit the buffet line for seconds and even thirds.
Don’t be bashful about serving some non-alcoholic holiday drinks from time to time. We’ve done the research for you, gladly we might add, and here are a few recipes just in time for the holidays.
The Cherry Bomb – no, not the fireworks but a very simple and fast holiday cocktail. Use seltzer, two splashes of grenadine and a handful of maraschino cherries, shake and pour on the rocks and you’re all set.
In keeping with the fireworks theme, try our Cranberry Sparkler. All you need to do is find some blueberry or blackberry puree, place an ounce of it in a glass, add two ounces of white cranberry juice, three ounces of seltzer and some ice; shake and serve.
And here’s a Holiday Punch Spectacular that can even be served for breakfast or lunch. Mix together three cups of orange juice, two cups of pineapple juice, three cups of pomegranate juice and a liter of ginger ale (preferably diet ginger ale) and a liter of club soda. Mix well, chill and serve.
So hoist a non-alcoholic holiday drink in the air and let’s count our blessings. We’ll see you in mid-December for more holiday fare.
