Pigs in blankets and Christmas pudding are two festive staples that diet expert Tim Spector will never allow to be served on the day.
The scientist, who co-founded the popular diet app ZOE, said he adopted a generally more relaxed attitude to eating healthily on Christmas Day compared to the rest of the year.
However, pigs in blankets which are full of saturated fats, salt, and by their very nature, processed meat, are strictly off the menu.
‘Even though it’s Christmas, I wouldn’t touch processed meat. Consider trying some homemade pâté if you’re looking for a meat fix,’ he told The Telegraph.
Professor Spector, also an expert in genetic epidemiology at King’s College London, has previously warned of the clear evidence processed meat is bad for us.
Such meats are high in saturated fat which can raise blood cholesterol levels, increasing the likelihood of potentially deadly heart disease.
High salt content in processed meats like bacon and sausages can also contribute to dangerous rises in blood pressure if eaten too often.
Processed meats are also a known risk factor for bowel cancer due to substances added in the preservation process called nitrates and nitrites, which react in the body to damage cells.
Pigs in blankets and Christmas pudding are two festive staples that Tim Spector will never allow to be served on the day
The diet guru, who leads the nutritional business ZOE, said he adopted a generally more relaxed attitude to eating healthily on Christmas Day compared to the rest of the year but admitted that even this had its limits. Stock image
Cancer Research UK estimates that almost a sixth of Britain’s 44,000 yearly bowel cancer cases are caused by eating too much ultra-processed meat.
Professor Spector has also outlined how some sausages, the ‘pig’ in the pigs in blankets, also contain emulsifiers — an industrial food ingredient used to improve texture and shelf-life.
Emulsifiers specifically have been suggested to cause gut conditions like irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel diseases, and have been linked to an increased risk of bowel cancer.
The traditional Christmas pudding is also shunned by the Spector household.
Professor Spector said the festive treat, alongside other similar hyper-sweet options, were just simply too high in sugar too make an exception — even on Christmas Day.
‘I wouldn’t serve very high-sugar options such as Christmas pudding or sticky toffee pudding,’ he said.
As an alternative, the expert recommended a homemade chocolate mousse which involves combining ‘dark chocolate, olive oil, maple syrup and the liquid from a jar of chickpeas’.
He added a rhubarb crumble ‘with a mixture of kefir and yogurt for the topping, rather than cream’ was another option.
Christmas puddings are packed with sugar, some options on supermarket shelves contain nearly 38g of sugar per serving which is over the 30g sugar per day limit the NHS advises British adults to adhere to.
Eating too much sugar can lead to excess weight gain and obesity, which in turn increases the risk of heart disease, some cancers and type 2 diabetes.
Professor Spector has previously detailed how sugar intake can lead to potentially worrying blood sugar spikes, which increases hunger pangs throughout the day, making you more likely to snack.
