I have had several patients very concerned about how they are going to maintain their diet on Thanksgiving, so I thought I would write a blog post on the topic.
Thanksgiving is one of my top 3 favorite times of the year, but knowing how to navigate the food around this holiday can be tricky. The good news is that all the foods at Thanksgiving can be made in a way that are still conducive to you having good health. However, it does take some intention around your food choices and some time in the kitchen.

Turkey and all the organs that come with it make the base of the Thanksgiving meal. As long as you eat the organs and you find a turkey that has not been fed corn or soy, you can’t go wrong. This does mean that you have to ask the butcher or the store if they know what the turkey was fed. This is often easier to accomplish at a butcher shop. If the turkey was pasture raised and fed a diet free of corn and soy then eat to your heart’s content.

Pumpkin is technically a fruit and, as fruits are the part of the plant that wants to be eaten, they are typically very well tolerated. My wife makes a great pumpkin pie with raw milk and honey. Yeah, I don’t get to enjoy a flaky crust, but that is 95% of the good part without any of the post-meal hangover. Squash and cranberry sauce are other classic Thanksgiving day meals that are also a fruit! You can also get creative with different apple dishes. If the biggest “cheat” that you do is cinnamon with some of these dishes, then that will be a success in my book.

Raw dairy is also another great addition to a Thanksgiving Day meal. With our pumpkin pie this year, we are going to enjoy some vanilla ice cream made by yours truly. You could also have sour cream (fermented cream) and add it to pretty much anything because what doesn’t go with sour cream?

Yes, I get that I have left some classic Thanksgiving Day dishes off my list like stuffing and gravy, but I am sure there is away that you could incorporate animal foods and some “low toxic” plant foods in order to make something passible as stuffing and gravy. View it as an opportunity to mess around in the kitchen with your loved ones. I would encourage everyone to reframe the purpose of Thanksgiving. It isn’t one of my favorite times of the year because of the food, but actually because my whole family is together inside a warm house laughing, playing games, and making long lasting memories. If you begin to appreciate it for this reason then the food becomes just an added bonus, but either way the holiday remains special.