The Christmas market season with all its temptations: Fragrant roasted almonds, fresh lard pastries and hot steaming mulled wine. Christmas market visits with friends and colleagues lift spirits in the dark season and increase anticipation for the holiday. But most specialties at the Christmas market contain a lot of sugar and fat and unfortunately rule out feasting without remorse. To ensure that every bite doesn’t end up on your hips, there are plenty of tips on how to avoid the worst sins.
Christmas calories at a glance
At the Christmas market, culinary delights not only vie for the favor of customers, but also for first place on the calorie chart:
- The 200-gram gingerbread heart decorated with colorful sugar lettering comes out on top with 860 calories, followed by the classic roasted almonds. Even a small 100-gram bag contains 513 calories.
- A large sausage (200 grams) beats with about 600 calories.
- Alcohol is also rich: a cup of mulled wine with rum, for example, contains 230 calories. Who restrains himself when drinking something, not only pays attention to health and figure, but also avoids the risk of being unpleasantly conspicuous by excessive alcohol consumption.
Christmas market: calories and fat content
In addition to the number of calories, Christmas market visitors should also pay attention to the fat content of the specialties. A bratwurst is one-third fat, marzipan is one-fourth fat. With chocolate, the lower the cocoa content, the fatter it is. Chocolate fans should therefore prefer varieties with at least 70 percent cocoa content.
Nuts have up to 70 percent fat. However, they are still healthy because they are rich in vitamins and contain an exceptionally high amount of minerals and trace elements such as potassium, magnesium, iron and zinc. If you eat small amounts regularly, you’ll be doing your heart, brain and nerves some good.
Low-calorie food at the Christmas market
Hanna-Kathrin Kraaibeek, graduate ecotrophologist and nutritionist at DAK knows how to feast cleverly at the Christmas market: “No one has to do without all the goodies in the run-up to Christmas,” explains the expert. “If you enjoy in moderation and replace the worst sins with lower-calorie versions, you’ll stay slim and feel good even after visiting the Christmas market.”
Hot chestnuts, for example, are low in fat and calories and taste delicious. Compared to a 200-gram bag of almonds, the same amount of chestnuts thus saves over 600 calories.
If you leave the sausage on the left and turn instead to Burgundy ham, you are eating a comparatively low-fat diet. And instead of the calorie bombs mulled wine with shot or hot cocoa with rum, a fruit punch without alcohol also tastes excellent on cold winter evenings.
Healthy spices
Christmas specialties, however, contain healthy ingredients in addition to sugar and fat: fragrant, tasty spices, for example. “The typical Christmas spices are cinnamon, vanilla, ginger, anise and cardamom,” Kraaibeek explains. “Not only do they provide subtle flavors, but they also promote a sense of well-being.”
For one thing, they improve mood because they positively influence serotonin levels. For another, spices trigger feelings of happiness through their essential oils via the sense of smell – so they’re just the thing for the dark winter months. They are also good for the stomach and digestion, making fatty foods more digestible.
Shared joy is double joy
If you go to the Christmas market with friends or colleagues, you have more fun and can watch the slim line at the same time. A friendly shared bag of lard cookies tastes twice as good and guarantees moderate enjoyment. It also gives you the opportunity to try different specialties without eating too much.
Extra round for the slim line
Those who have gone overboard despite all the good intentions should compensate for gluttony with plenty of exercise. The best thing to do after a visit to the Christmas market is to forgo the car or public transport and take a walk home or do an extra lap through the park the next day.
