How to have a healthy Thanksgiving (6 tips!)

It may sound like a contradiction using the words "healthy" and "thanksgiving" together, but hear me out! 

There are several things you can do to make your Thanksgiving celebration healthier...

1. Don't skip your daily green drink (and breakfast): You don't want to show up to the Thanksgiving table ravenous, because then you'll eat everything in sight! Make sure to start your day with a green drink and breakfast to give yourself a healthy energy boost that will remind you that your health comes first. 
2. Seek out raw food first. Fill up your plate with raw veggies and salad first. You'll still have room for more delicious goodies later!
3. Cut out the alcohol (or keep it limited). If you want to have a festive drink, bring along your own bottle of organic wine. Have just one glass and then replace it with sparkling water and lime the second time around.
4. Cap off the night with some ginger tea. Ginger can counteract any inflammation, and is effective in calming the stomach and aiding in digestion.
5. Relieve stress. If you are feeling super stressed out, your cortisol levels can skyrocket causing your body hold onto weight (particularly in the waist). Do some yoga, meditation, or take a long walk either before or after your meal.
6. Bring healthier versions of your Thanksgiving favorites. Of course you should never show up to a dinner empty-handed, so use this rule to your advantage and bring along a healthy holiday dish (or a few). This will give you the option of eating at least one healthy item, and lets you share a delicious real food dish with your family! 

Here are my favorite healthy Thanksgiving recipes from the blog:

• Sweet Potato Casserole: Almost like dessert (but healthy!)
• Cornbread Stuffing: Vegan, organic, and absolutely delicious. 
• Stove Top Stuffing: Frees up your oven for other dishes like the turkey and sweet potatoes.
• Spaghetti Squash Casserole: Incredible creamy and savory side dish.
• Raw Stuffing: The crunch of the pecans and savory cauliflower, celery, onions and carrots is just dynamite!
• Cranberry Sauce: Sweetened with fresh squeezed orange juice and honey.
• Pumpkin Pie with Coconut Whipped Cream: Without refined sugar!

One of the the things I love to do after Thanksgiving is make a big pot of soup. It's easy, inexpensive, and is a great way to use of up some of the leftover veggies and turkey you might have.

A great one to try from Food Babe Family is Ginger Chicken Soup, which you can easily make with leftover turkey instead. Simply omit the chicken and add shredded cooked turkey while the soup is simmering. It's cozy, healing, and works perfectly with shredded turkey instead of chicken. The ginger, broth, and veggies make it feel like a warm blanket — exactly what everyone needs after a big holiday meal.

Here's the recipe if you don't have the cookbook yet:

Food Babe's Ginger Chicken Soup (makes 4 servings)

Ingredients:

• 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 4 to 5 medium carrots, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 1-inch piece fresh ginger root, minced
• 5 cups low-sodium chicken bone broth
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions:

1. Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat.
2. Add the chicken thighs and cook until browned, about 3 minutes per side.
3. Add the carrots, celery, onion, and ginger. Sauté until the vegetables begin to soften, about 5 to 7 minutes.
4. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pot, and simmer until the chicken is cooked through and the flavors blend, about 20 minutes.
6. Before serving, break up the chicken into bite-sized pieces.

Wishing you and your family a happy (and healthy) Thanksgiving!

Xo,

Vani

P.S. If you're doing some holiday shopping this weekend, don't forget to use my Healthy Holiday Gift Guide to find the perfect gifts with incredible discounts just for the Food Babe Army! Find your holiday gifts here. 

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Xo, 

Vani

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Xo,

Vani

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Stop baking with these toxic ingredients

The other day I was doing some investigating at a local grocery store and stopped dead in my tracks when I saw a large display of holiday baking ingredients. 

It was stocked full of… 

• Gold Medal All-Purpose Flour
• Clabber Girl Baking Powder
• Crisco "Vegetable Oil" and Shortening
• C&H Cane Sugar
• Karo Corn Syrup
• McCormick Artificial Food Colors
• Domino Brown Sugar

And all kinds of unhealthy ingredients for everyone to load up on for the upcoming holidays. 

I knew I needed to write about this immediately! 

If you have any of these items lurking in your cupboards, now is the perfect time to ditch those toxic ingredients and replace them with better options. That way you'll be all stocked up with healthier options before the holiday rush.

To help you, here are 4 swaps that will have the most impact…

COOKING OIL:

Stay far, far away from anything that says "Vegetable Oil" on the label - this includes canola oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil, and soybean oil. These oils come from GMO seeds that are heavily treated with cancer-causing pesticides. They're processed to DEATH, with chemical solvents, steamers, neutralizers, de-waxers, bleach and deodorizers before they end up in the bottle. They are also horrible for the body - known to increase the risk of obesity, inflammation, and cardiovascular disease.

Instead, stick with organic unrefined oils: Coconut Oil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and Avocado Oil. And use real butter or coconut oil in your baking instead of shortening! 

FLOUR:

Flour can be treated with up to 60 different chemicals before it ends up on store shelves – including chemical bleach. The industrial processing destroys nutrients, such as Vitamin E and fiber. It has no nutritional value and is essentially dead food, so they "enrich" it with synthetic vitamins that are not from nature. When wheat is not organic, it is often sprayed with Roundup weedkiller and residues can remain in the flour. The active ingredient in Roundup, glyphosate, is linked to cancer and other diseases.

Instead, choose an organic flour: whole white wheat (not bleached, this is a variety of wheat), sprouted flour, oat flour, or spelt flour. 

SUGAR:

White sugar, brown sugar, and powdered sugar are all processed forms of sugar, often made from GMO crops heavily treated with pesticides. They have no nutritional value and have an acidic effect on the body. Unless a sugar says it is "cane sugar" it is probably made from GMO sugar beets. Any sugar (including Cane Sugar) that is NOT organic could have been sprayed with Roundup, Atrazine, and other harmful pesticides. 

Instead, you can replaced sugar with organic coconut sugar in almost any recipe. It's completely unrefined, helping to preserve all of its vitamins and minerals. If you do use white sugar, make sure it's organic to avoid GMOs and synthetic pesticides. Even better, try coconut sugar which has more minerals and lower glycemic load.

FOOD COLORS:

Those food colors by McCormick and Betty Crocker are made with artificial food dyes from petroleum (Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 1). These are linked to several health issues, including allergies, cancer, and hyperactivity in children. Dyes are suspended in a solution, often made with propylene glycol and preserved with parabens – which are endocrine-disrupting chemicals linked to breast cancer and reproductive problems. 

Instead, there are natural coloring kits available made from real food like beets, spirulina, and turmeric. This goes for holiday sprinkles too! 

Thankfully - You don't need to sacrifice your health to enjoy holiday meals and treats. It's all about making better choices, and this same philosophy applies any time of the year.

How we choose to spend our dollars is very powerful and changes the marketplace. If everyone made these healthier swaps, our stores would stop carrying all those toxic products and give us more good options! 

Please forward this email to your friends and family to show them why it is important to make better decisions when we shop for food. Let's all vote with our dollars and protect our health – yes, even during the holidays. 

In case you missed it…

My team and I put together our annual Healthy Holiday Gift Guide and scored some deep discounts just for you. You'll find my favorite beauty products, foodie gifts, and wellness must-haves that I personally love to use. 

Check out the new gift guide here. 

Xo, 

Vani

P.S. If you want to see everything I stock in my pantry for the holidays, I put them all together for you on this list on Amazon. This will make it super easy for you! Anything you may purchase there also supports the work that we do here at Food Babe, so thank you.

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Holidays gifts that aren't toxic or will kill you

I don't know about you...

But every year around this time, I start dreading the holiday shopping madness.

Not because I don't love giving gifts — but because I'm tired of seeing the same toxic junk marketed as "perfect presents."

Candles loaded with synthetic fragrances. Skincare packed with parabens. Kitchen gadgets made with who-knows-what chemicals.

And I refuse to give my loved ones products that could harm their health — even if they come wrapped in pretty paper.

That's why I created something different this year.

My 2025 Healthy Holiday Gift Guide is here — and it's filled with products I personally use and genuinely love.

No fluff. No filler. Just clean, conscious gifts that actually make a difference in people's lives.

Here's what you'll find:

Healthy Stocking Stuffers - because the stocking-sized items deserve to be something other than toxic candies and lotions

Healthy Foodie Gifts - the cookware, food, and tools that transform everyday cooking

Healthy Home Gifts - gifts you'll find in my house, and gifts that people will actually use every single day in 2026!

Wellness Gifts — products that nourish instead of harm

Every single item has been vetted against my strict standards. 

And many come with exclusive Food Babe discounts you won't find anywhere else.

Click here to see the full 2025 Healthy Holiday Gift Guide →

This year, you don't have to stress about what to buy or worry about giving toxic products to people you love.

Just click the link, find what fits your budget, and feel good knowing you're giving gifts that actually support health — not sabotage it.

Shop the complete guide here

Happy (clean) gifting!

Xo,
Vani

P.S. Several of these brands are offering limited-time holiday discounts exclusively for the Food Babe community. Don't wait — these deals won't last long, and inventory is already moving fast!

P.P.S. At Food Babe, we only promote products we love to use. If you buy a product we link to, we may earn commission.

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I make this every Thanksgiving! (You'll want to make it too)

Every year around Thanksgiving, everyone's asking me...

"What do I do when my family doesn't care about the ingredients they're serving at holiday meals?"

I get it. 

You don't want to eat the Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce loaded with high fructose corn syrup.

Or, Kraft's Stove Top Stuffing spiked with potentially cancerous preservatives. 

Everyone in your family may not take ingredients as seriously as you do…

But that's exactly why Thanksgiving is the perfect day to set the example and show them how incredibly delicious real food can be.

To make it easy for you, I've rounded up all my favorite Thanksgiving recipes made from real, simple ingredients – all published on the blog for free so you can create a homemade real-food feast your family will love:

• Sweet Potato Casserole: Almost like dessert (but healthy!)
• Cornbread Stuffing: Vegan, organic, and absolutely delicious. 
• Stove Top Stuffing: Frees up your oven for other dishes like the turkey and sweet potatoes.
• Spaghetti Squash Casserole: Incredible creamy and savory side dish.
• Raw Stuffing: The crunch of the pecans and savory cauliflower, celery, onions and carrots is just dynamite!
• Cranberry Sauce: Sweetened with fresh squeezed orange juice and honey.
• Pumpkin Pie with Coconut Whipped Cream: Without refined sugar!
• Sweet Potato & Sausage Breakfast Casserole: The ultimate holiday morning hack – cooks overnight in the slow cooker so you have a hassle-free morning.

Now's the perfect time to get your recipes organized and gather up your ingredients so you'll be ready to go in two weeks.

And don't forget, if you have my cookbook Food Babe Family, you'll find a few more of my all-time holiday staples in there too – like my Favorite Green Beans, Perfect Marinated Beets, and Classic Apple Pie.

Have fun planning your Thanksgiving feast!

Next week I'll send more tips your way. 

Xo,
Vani

P.S. Make it easy on yourself and order Organic Apple Pies and Organic Pumpkin Pies from Organic Bread of Heaven! They're soooo delicious and made with the best ingredients, shipped straight to your home. They also have organic sourdough stuffing cubes! I partnered with them to give you a 10% discount when you use the code FOODBABE at checkout. 

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Xo,

Vani

P.S. Once this sale ends tonight, Lumebox goes back to full price ($629). If you've been thinking about trying it, now is the time.

P.P.S. At Food Babe, we only promote products we love to use. If you buy a product we link to, we may earn commission.

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