Originally posted on askdrnandi.com
The Super Bowl is one of the biggest party days of the year, and whether you are a football fan or not, you are likely to attend one. On average, there are 17 people at a Super Bowl Party, and only 5% of the TV audience watches the game alone. We all know what that means. The real superstar of the day is the food.
Super Bowl Sunday is America’s second-highest food consumption day, next to Thanksgiving, in the United States. Last year almost 140 million pounds of avocados and 8 million pounds of tortilla chips were served across the country. Along with a staggering 52 million cases of beer.
Antacid sales in 7-Eleven stores increased by 20% in the 24 hours following the game. On Monday, approximately 6% of American workers will call in sick.
Surprised?
According to research from the Calorie Control Council and the Snack Food Association, armchair quarterbacks consume 30 million pounds of snack food on Super Bowl Sunday.
From potato chips, nachos, pretzels, and popcorn alone, the average spectator will consume 1,200 calories and 50 grams of fat. Then there’s the pizza, chicken wings, chili, and booze that are standard party fare.
While millions of people watch NFL players in the Super Bowl, the real MVPs on Sunday will be chicken wings—over 1 billion will be consumed before, during, and after the game.
A small order with at least 10 wings contains an estimated 1,650 calories per wing. Each wing contains around 14g of fat, 5.4g of saturated fat, a half gram of trans fat, nearly 40 mg of cholesterol, and 284 mg of sodium.
It’s no surprise that a Big Game food binge will provide you with enough calories to last you a few days.
What’s less obvious are the terrifying effects your favorite party foods can have on your health.
It takes years of a high-fat diet—fast food, full-fat dairy, and lots of red meat—to build up the type of plaque that would cause a heart attack, stroke, or aneurysm. However, a single day of eating fatty foods is enough to change the way your arteries function.
Downing a big meal requires the heart to pump more blood to the stomach and intestines to aid digestion. While the chances of a plate of wings or a couple of slices of pizza causing a heart attack or stroke are extremely low, people with pre-existing cardiac conditions should be cautious.
According to a study of 38 adults that was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, they all had a temporary decrease in artery dilation three to five hours after eating a 900-calorie fast food meal containing 50g of fat. Artery dilation is the widening that occurs when the volume of blood inside the vessel increases.
Aside from hangovers, heartburn and indigestion are major causes of work absences, which may explain the rising antacid sales the day after the Super Bowl. Although heartburn is more of a nuisance than a health risk, it can be triggered by fatty foods, spicy foods, alcohol, carbonated drinks, and lying down after eating.
When you overfill your stomach, food rises and pushes through the flap between the stomach and the esophagus. This allows stomach acid to enter the esophagus. Some foods, such as wings, burgers, creamy dressings, and high-fat potato chips can also loosen the flap and cause acid reflux. Combining these foods with alcohol contributes to that physical occurrence as well.
Most unhealthy food, including processed and packaged food, is pumped with sugar, fat, and salt. The amount is more than what people usually add when cooking at home.
Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. We’ve compiled four recipes to help you eat your favorite Super Bowl snacks in a healthier and more nutritious way.
A study in Food Science and Human Wellness also revealed that garlic promotes the growth of friendly bacteria (bifidobacteria, specifically) in the gut and prevents disease-promoting bacteria from growing.
It’s important to know that garlic will start to lose its prebiotic benefits the more you cook it (and raw is best for gut health), so try rubbing it on toast or adding it to guacamole or salad dressing instead of cooking it.
Learn more about the amazing health benefits of garlic.
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By adding simple ingredients like garlic and ginger to your dishes along with spinach and artichokes you can elevate your Super Bowl food staples without risking your health and maybe avoid that post-Super Bowl Pepcid run.
Make sure to stock up on Spice World Minced Garlic & Ginger. Spice World makes it convenient and easy to add these powerhouse nutrients to your dishes without the hassle.
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Garlic-Ginger Chicken Wings Recipe
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