Healthy Snacks to Bring to Your Family’s Holiday Gathering

Whenever I end up tasked with bringing something to my family get togethers (or if I just want to bring something in general), I always make it a point to provide something healthy, gluten free, and vegetarian for anyone else in the family with those dietary restrictions. At the very least, I’m not estranging anyone by doing so. At worst, not everyone “likes” my food. I’d rather cater to the former crowd so that everyone could have some.

This usually means that my foods are much better on your dental health than other alternatives, especially in the realm of desserts. It’s a well known fact that typical American desserts are loaded with sugar, which does a real number on your teeth if not careful. Since we know holiday snacks contain a lot of sugar, we ask ourselves if there’s anything we can do to reduce the amount of sugar in general. The answer? A resounding yes. You don’t have to put off eating dessert or the other great tasting holiday foods this year, and that’s reason enough to rejoice.

Check out these holiday treats which happen to contain low amounts of sugar. Most include some combination of nuts, dark chocolate, berries, and molasses, all of which have some beneficial components for the overall health of your teeth.

Gingerbread, the holiday classic

Did you know most gingerbread recipes call for far less sugar than most sugar cookies? If you can help it, opt for those recipes instead in order to make a holiday favorite in the form of a cookie. Not everything must be loaded with sugar to taste good, and gingerbread is no different.

Cranberry sauce

This is another holiday favorite. A lot of recipes for this sauce are low sugar, so long as you seek them out. And luckily for you, cranberries are known to be healthy for your teeth by preventing the likes of periodontitis and dental caries.

Chocolate strawberries

For as amazing as these taste, you would think they’re unhealthy for you. But so long as you stick to dark chocolate and use the freshest of strawberries, you’re in for a world of surprise: these are the healthiest on this list. A little bit of dark chocolate a day is proven to be healthy for you, and pairing it with fresh berries goes even further.

Almond cookies

These are another sugar cookie alternative, and almonds are known to be extremely nutritious in all the right aways. Again, err on the side of less sugar and you’re set!