As I've discussed in previous installments of this series of Holiday Season Healthy-Eating Tips, there's more to staying well this time of year than just avoiding overeating and overdrinking. What you do eat is just as important as what you don't eat (and the "shoulds" are more fun to think about than the "shouldn'ts," don't you agree?).

So I was pleased to see tip number five from active.com's 10 Strategies to Prevent the Holiday Bulge: Take advantage of "nutritionally dense holiday foods." The article's author, Kim Mueller, M.S., R.D., suggests five vitamin- and nutrient-rich ingredients that are also festive. Read on for her list, plus links to healthy recipes from Epicurious for each one. (Hint: A couple of the foods are featured in the Roasted Squash, Chestnut, and Chicory Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette recipe pictured here).

Epicurious's Holiday Healthy Eating Guide has tons of tips on avoiding overindulging and gaining weight during the holiday season. Our sister site Nutrition Data offers more advice in a Holiday Party Survival Guide. Now I'm not suggesting that you throw all of these healthy eating ideas out the window (after all, I wrote some of those tips!), but I do think at this, the height of the party season, it's okay to cut yourself a little slack. Blow off a rule or two (or ten).

Consider this fact: The average American gains only one pound between Thanksgiving and New Year's, according to the article Simple Strategies for Holiday Eating from Self magazine. The same article suggests substituting your favorite seasonal treats (e.g., your mom's pecan pie) for your usual treats. Also keep in mind that a couple of calorie blow-outs in a holiday season will not make you instantly double in size.

I'll be following the "slack" rule as I dash from party to party this weekend sampling Christmas cookies, latkes, holiday hors d'oeuvres, fudge, and cheese plates at each stop. And, hey, all of that dashing should burn off a few calories (which reminds me of the last item in our Holiday Healthy Eating Guide: Add exercise whenever you can).

Pictured recipes: Mini Crab Cakes and Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

When I read the headline Could a Reveillon dinner help you fight the flu? on Anne Berry's blog, the New Orleans Healthy Restaurant Examiner, I imagined a meal composed of a giant plate of some sort of cold medicine or supplement called "Reveillon." I could hear the "Revive with Reveillon!" tagline in my head.

Even though I have roots in Louisiana (it's my mother's home state), I had never heard of the tradition of Reveillon: "During December, New Orleans restaurants host these prix fixe feasts, featuring Creole and seasonal foods," explains Berry in her blog. Berry had read my article about flu-fighting foods and noticed that a number of the immunity-boosting ingredients (including apples, onions, chiles, and citrus) were showing up on Reveillon menus around New Orleans. Leave it to a Louisianan to find a health reason to eat chicken and andouille gumbo or roasted goose with braised red cabbage and apples.

Berry's blog also reminded me that sometimes one of the healthiest things you can do when it comes to food is put aside your stress and enjoy a nice long, leisurely meal with good friends, and, as they say in New Orleans, laissez les bon temps rouler! If your meal happens to have a few immunity-boosting ingredients, all the better.

Having a "calories be damned" kind of day? Then you'll want to dig right into one of the pull-out-the-stops "splurge day" recipes in our new feature Comfort Food Recipes for Splurge Days or Any Day. We've got recipes for burgers topped with bacon, cheese, and a creamy sauce; crispy deep-fried chicken; pudding made with heavy cream; and 12 more decadent dishes.

But we haven't forgotten about you and your comfort food needs if you're watching your calories, fat, cholesterol, or sugar today. Step aside iceberg lettuce salad and carrot sticks and make way for one of our diet-friendly healthy comfort food recipes. For each "splurge day" dish, we have a less caloric, but no less delicious, "any day" counterpart: a bison burger with a creamy low-cal sauce; crispy "unfried" chicken; deceptively rich-tasting chocolate-hazelnut pudding made with low-fat milk; and a dozen more main courses, sides, and desserts.

What are your favorite "splurge day" and "any day" comfort foods?

Fighting for Brown Moo Juice: The dairy industry has formed the Raise Your Hand for Chocolate Milk campaign as a bulwark against the growing movement to strike chocolate milk off school menus. Those who want chocolate milk banned from school say it's a sugary drink that encourages unhealthy food choices. The dairy industry says that when you take chocolate milk away, kids stop drinking milk altogether and simply choose even less healthy beverages instead.

Man Killed by Exploding Gum: A Ukrainian chemistry student blew his own jaw off when he chewed gum that had been dipped in explosive liquid. The 25-year-old, who died, had a bizarre habit of soaking his gum in citric acid before putting it in his mouth, and may have mixed up his solutions.

If it's getting to be that time of the holiday season when you're feeling a bit bloated and gross and you want to clean up your diet for a few days, check out our Detox Diet Recipes and Tips. For the feature, I interviewed the star of 30 Days, Morgan Spurlock, and his wife, Alex Jamieson, who is a holistic health counselor, chef, and the author of The Great American Detox Diet. The two shared tips and recipes from the eating plan that Jamieson developed to help Spurlock lose weight and return to wellness after he ate nothing but food from McDonald's for 30 days for the movie Super Size Me. Jamieson helped Spurlock lose the 25 pounds he gained during the filming. "I truly believe that she helped save my life by nursing my body back to health with care, kindness, and delicious food," he says.

Do you ever feel like you need a few days of "clean eating"? If so, what are your go-to recipes?

For more ideas on eating well throughout the rest of 2009, check out our complete list of Holiday Healthy-Eating Tips and Light Party Recipes.

Healthy, nutritious foods are often taken for granted - we have farmers' markets or well-stocked local stores. But not everyone has access to fresh fruits and veggies. Market Makeovers is engaging teenagers with its upbeat, lively approach to social action. 

"Do you live in a food 'desert'?" the organization asks. The five signs that you do are:

* Fresh, quality produce and healthy food are hard to find
* Junk food and fast food ware too easy to find
* There are no supermarkets, grocery stores, or farmers' markets
* The neighborhood is overrun with convenience stores selling overprocessed food
* People suffer high rates of obesity and chronic disease, and die younger than non-'food desert' residents.

Market Makeovers has easy, practical ways for teens to improve the situation. Read on for ideas, and to watch the first episode of So You Think You can Cook? where two competitive teams of teenagers in South L.A. race to buy the healthiest food from the local store with $10 - the average meal budget for a family of four in the neighborhood.

As my coworker Sarah Kagan discussed in the Epi-Log earlier today, one of the greatest things about Thanksgiving is the leftovers. If you're looking for a light or nutritious meal today or tomorrow, try one of these healthy recipes for Thanksgiving leftovers, below (many of them call for deli turkey, but you can simply substitute sliced or shredded Thanksgiving turkey).

Turkey Roll-Ups with Blueberry Salsa: Blueberries are bursting with antioxidants, and the recipe also calls for curry powder, which contains cancer-fighting turmeric.

Turkey Chili: Hot peppers have anti-inflammatory properties, and beans add filling, heart-healthy fiber.

Turkey Chopped Salad with Spicy Avocado Dressing: Avocados provide healthy fats and red peppers are loaded with vitamin C, which can help your body fight the flu.

Smoked Turkey, Plum, and Fennel Salad: Fennel is believed to aid digestion. It's also a very good source of potassium, which can help lower blood pressure.

Turkey Pinwheels: The spinach in these wraps (pictured above) adds color, iron, and a dose of stress-fighting magnesium.

Smoked Turkey, Black Bean, Bell Pepper, and Corn Salad:  Follow the eat-the-rainbow principle with this colorful, veggie-filled salad. Its tomatoes, peppers, arugula, and herbs provide a broad range of nutrients and antioxidants.

Also try substituting turkey for healthy recipes that call for rotisserie chicken.

Maybe you're groaning at the thought of a healthy Thanksgiving menu. I have my reservations, too: Some of my favorite Thanksgiving items include my Mom's super-rich gravy ladled over a rice dressing that's madewith ground beef, Andouille Sausage and Cornbread Stuffing, and my coworker Sarah Kagan's chocolate-pecan pie (all rather heavy on the fat and calories), and I always enjoy these dishes without hesitation or guilt.

But, as I discussed in my recent blog about seasonal cooking,it is possible to celebrate abundance without loading every dish on the table with fat and sugar. And that's good news if doctor's orders or simple personal preference require you to keep calories, sodium, saturated fat, or sugar in check.

Take, for example,this antioxidant-loaded and nutrient-dense healthy Thanksgiving menu. Two of the recipes from it (Arugula Salad with Pomegranate and Toasted Pecans and Thyme-Roasted Sweet Potatoes) have been given four-fork ratings (the highest honor) by Epicurious members. The Herb-Rubbed Turkey with Roasted-Garlic Gravy and Ginger-Pumpkin Soufflé have 3.5 forks apiece. I can't imagine anyone complaining about deprivation if served this flavorful, colorful, and nutritious Thanksgiving dinner.

Whether you want to add just one healthy recipe to your Thanksgiving menu or serve a meal that's nutritious from beginning to end, check out Epicurious's Interactive Thanksgiving Menu Planner and the healthy ideas from our sister site Nutrition Data. Or browse through the hundreds of healthy Thanksgiving recipes and healthy Thanksgiving menus on Epi (you might find that some of your Thanksgiving favorites are on the list).Let us know what you pick for your table in the Comments section below.

Pictured recipes: Maple-Glazed Turkey with Gravy, Carrots and Brussels Sprouts, and Persimmon Cranberry Sauce.

Every time I go to the grocery store I seem to leave ranting about another dubious or downright bogus health claim on packaged food. Take, for example, the now-pulled assertion that Frosted Krispies "Now Helps Support Your Child's Immunity," which Michael Y. Park reported on here in the Epi-Log a few weeks ago. Questionable claims were dealt a blow when the "Smart Choices" food labeling system, which had given a thumbs up to sugary cereals such as Froot Loops, suspended operations a few weeks ago (read the full story, Food Label Program to Suspend Operations from The New York Times).

Now the editors of ShopSmart magazine (published by Consumers Union, which also publishes Consumer Reports) are striking out against dubious claims. The December issue of the magazine highlights amd debunks common food label myths. Read on, below, for a list of "Tricks vs. Truths" shared by ShopSmart. (Full disclosure: I am a former employee of ConsumerReports.org, also published by Consumers Union.)