Thanksgiving is full of traditions. From the parades to the afternoon football games to the dishes, many of us celebrate Thanksgiving much the same way we did as kids.

 

It’s also a day when we throw calorie and fat concerns to the wind. We eat mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing and a roll — all in the same sitting and nobody frets about the carbs. Then we top it off with pumpkin pie and cookies. No wonder everyone loves Thanksgiving dinner!

 

But what if you could make your menu more nutritionally sound without your guests realizing it? Using a unique nutritional scoring system from NuVal — a public-private partnership between a hospital and food industry representatives — we’ve compared common Thanksgiving foods. A higher score means a higher nutritional content. Points are awarded for nutrients like protein, vitamins and fiber while points are subtracted for trans fats, sodium and sugar. Is canned jellied cranberry sauce or canned whole berry cranberry sauce the better choice? Read on to find out. (Text: Robin Shreeves)