With today being Turkey Day, I am giving nutrition 8 facts about turkey.

Turkeys are NOT “pumped full of hormones.”

There are no approved implantable steroid hormones for dairy cows, poultry, or pigs per the FDA. People who claim that their chickens (or turkeys) are “pumped full of hormones” need to tell me where they get those hormones. We need to contact the authorities.

Turkeys and all animals have hormones because they are an animal, just the same way you have a human being have hormones. They are part of living. However, Turkey is not given hormones on top of what they naturally have in their bodies.

Get the antibiotic-free turkey.

Antibiotics in our food is another topic I have previously addressed: there are no antibiotics in your food, including turkey.

No matter what the label says, no turkey you can buy has antibiotics.

Chickens and turkeys may get antibiotics to prevent disease. However, before the end of their life for processing, they undergo a withdrawal period to ensure no antibiotic residue in the system. Then, the poultry is randomly sampled and tested for residues. And residue violations are a meager percentage of the samples.

Cook the turkey without the skin to reduce the fat content.

For one, are we still concerned about the fat content of foods this way? It is the 21st century, and this should not be a huge concern. But the fact is that cooking a turkey with its skin will not add fat, and it will not soak into the meat. That isn’t how it works. So go ahead and cook the turkey with the skin – and if you would like, you can eat it too.

The tryptophan in turkey makes you sleepy.

Again, not likely.

For one, you would need to consume it on an empty to get that effect.

Tryptophan is in beef, chicken, milk, soybeans, and turkey. So why don’t people get sleepy after the burger or chicken?

More likely, the excess food and high carbohydrate meal makes one sleepy, not the turkey. I previously wrote more in the Truth About Tryptophan. Be careful eating those sunflower seeds – you might fall asleep.

Eat light meat or dark meat or both.

A long-standing thought that we should eat white meat because it is leaner – which is true. However, choose what you like. Today isn’t the day to overthink this.

White meat – 4 ounces (no skin): 158 calories, 1.5 grams fat, 34 grams protein

Dark meat – 4 ounces (no skin): 183 calories, 5 grams fat, 33 grams protein

Eat it within three-four days – or freeze it right away.

So many people love the leftovers, which is fine. However, if this is going into next week, be aware of food safety issues.

We should use leftovers within four days – so if you still have some on Monday, eat it that day or throw it out. This concept is basic food safety.

As for other leftovers, check the FoodKeeper App for how long it keeps.

If you plan to freeze, then get that in the freezer today.

And I always take the turkey carcass and other pieces left over and simmer them in a stockpot for an hour or two for turkey broth. I wouldn’t bother with the carrots, celery, and onions unless you already used them for other things in the earlier meal.

What is tofurky?

I have never had it, but I know many who use the Tofurky products. I would have to say that this product is one of the original “plant-based” meat alternatives. Though it is tofu, it also has many other ingredients, including wheat products, so if wheat (or gluten) is a concern, double-check the ingredients for what’s inside.

Turkey Trots – which might not mean what you think it means.

If you do a family 5K the morning of Thanksgiving, take it as a fun time with the family to get out and do something together before the feast, not as a way to eat this meal later in the day.

But don’t see it as a “pass” to overconsume or a way to “earn” the meal. It is fun, but not a tradeoff for eating what you love.

Happy Thanksgiving.