Christmas, eating leftovers and staying fit? The trick is how (not) to heat them

2023-12-27 14:25:07

Christmas leftovers aren’t necessarily bad for your health. “They can be included in a healthy diet, although obviously it depends on the leftovers. And, above all, on the way they are reheated.” The how and why is explained to time.news Salute by nutritionist Giorgio Calabrese who recalls that the main guide for the reuse of food – economical and healthy – remains “common sense”. If lunches and dinners “have been ‘constructed’ with rich but fundamentally balanced menus, with a little pasta and a little more fish, a little more vegetables, everything is fine. If instead they are based on carbonara, fried meat, fried or overcooked vegetables, it is no longer a leftover but a repeated mistake. However, if the Italian tradition has been followed we will certainly have good leftovers that we can eat without feeling guilty.”

In Italian traditions, in fact, “although there are certainly many high-calorie or difficult-to-digest dishes, in most cases we still have a lot of vegetables. But to reuse them in a healthy way they should not be ‘sauced’ or re-cooked. Just season them, if necessary, with extra virgin olive oil, lemon, herbs, so as not to have an excessive load of condiments”. The same goes for pasta, which “if it is sautéed in the pan it becomes fried. A terrible solution, absolutely wrong. The best way to reheat is the microwave, or a small oven which heats and forms that crust which makes the dish more pleasant”.

No problem, therefore, in bringing leftovers back to the table, if “we mean good foods, not already very fatty dishes which represent a repeated assault on health”, he points out. Save “all the remaining vegetables, raw and cooked: salads, baked, grilled or steamed or stewed. When heated in the oven they maintain their excellent nutritional value but at the same time do not burden digestion and the liver. For other dishes, instead, just focus on small portions, accompanying them with generous portions of vegetables. Another matter for desserts, to be set aside if possible if you have exaggerated in recent days or in any case to be reserved, always in small portions, for breakfast. And if the panettone is finished let’s avoid opening another one or even buying it again”, concludes Calabrese.

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