Now very few of us find it easy to be perfectly healthy over Christmas.

I did try one year, when I was 13 and totally traumatised by a spotty forehead.

I was convinced that if I avoided everything that contained sugar and drank enough water, I'd start the New Year with clear and glowing skin.

However, while I was on the right track, I didn't really know enough to make a difference.

The biggest error I made was eating a tangerine every single time I was tempted to dive into the chocolates.

Great in theory, but being a sugar addict, this meant that 1990 was the year I ate 15 tangerines on Christmas day.

I'm not going to go into the results, but as you can imagine, it wasn't pretty.

From then on, as I learned more about nutrition, I wrote Christmas day off as the one day of the year when I could eat chocolate for breakfast, lunch and dinner, without feeling guilty.

However, these days I reach chocolate-saturation point all too quickly.

This is largely because a few years of healthy snacking and limited sugar have broken the back of my sweet tooth.

This means that for me, Christmas often ends up being a little healthier than I planned.

And this may actually be the case for many of you too. Cassava pie, roasted potatoes and gigantic portions aside, Christmas lunch can often end up being fairly healthy.

This is because roast turkey breast is one of the leanest, most nutrient-rich sources of protein available.

Note that when I say roast turkey, I mean freshly roasted turkey. Unfortunately deli, or pre-packed sliced turkey, often has a high sodium content.

Processed turkey also often includes the darker meat, which raises the total saturated fat content significantly.

And finally, I've just discovered that processed turkey often contains organ meats, too (heart, gizzards etc.), which again raises the saturated fat content, and quite frankly, makes me want to vomit.

If you've just gone queasy at the thought of all the gizzards you may have accidentally eaten, let's refocus on the positives!

Freshly roasted turkey breast meat contains less than half the saturated fat of the majority of red meats.

It's also rich in B3 and B6, which help to provide energy and also prevent damage to your DNA.

Turkey is also high in selenium, a mineral that helps to boost the immune system and provides metabolic support for the thyroid gland.

Lastly, turkey is rich in tryptophan which helps to promote sleep. This is one reason why so many of us have a snooze on the sofa after Christmas lunch ? that and because we ate so much, we can't actually move.

Now as healthy as your freshly roasted turkey may be, poultry is the number one source of all cases of salmonella food poisoning.

If you can imagine the effect of 15 tangerines on your stomach, it's nowhere near as bad as the near-deathdom of Salmonella poisoning.

Salmonella causes simultaneous diarrhoea and vomiting and it can take days to recover.

It's not fun at the best of times, but especially not over Christmas.

So as many of us cook much larger birds than we are used to on Christmas Day, we need to be extra careful ? especially if the turkey is frozen.

For comprehensive details on turkey safety, check out the tips in the salmonella-free Christmas chart.

Left-over turkey is a given at Christmas and there's a lot you can do with it.

However, try avoiding sandwiching it with mayo between two slices of cassava pie.

Healthier options include wholegrain sandwiches with turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce, turkey soup and casseroles.

One of my favourite solutions for leftover turkey is this healthy chicken curry recipe.

It's got an intense flavour, but IT's got an intense flavour, but it's light enough to enjoy if you're still full from the day before.

also free of much of the saturated fat of traditional curries.

So as this is my last column before the 25th ? Happy Christmas everyone!

Eat, drink and be merry ? but keep your good health in mind.

For those of you who have an emphasis on the merry side of Christmas, next week I'll be giving you some tips to help prevent New Year's Eve hangover doom and gloom.

4 cups cold roast turkey breast, chopped into bite sized pieces

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 inch of fresh ginger, pressed

1 large clove garlic, pressed

2 tbsps. light olive oil

1 tbsp. lemon juice

4 tsps. honey

1 tsp. garam masala

1 tin chopped tomatoes

2 cups chicken stock (I use the organic chicken "better than bouillon")

Home made curry powder (all teaspoons heaped)

2 tsps. ground cumin

1 tsp. ground coriander

1 tsp. turmeric

2 tsps. paprika

2 tsps. chili powder

2 tsps. fenugreek

2 tsps. brown rice or gram flour

1. In a large casserole dish, heat the light olive oil and onions. Saut? on medium for 5 minutes, till the onions are translucent.

2. Press the ginger and garlic through a garlic press, discarding the rough fibrous bits and add the pulp/juice to the onions.

Turn the heat down to low and stir constantly for one minute.

3. Add the curry powder mix and continue to stir for another minute. Don't let the spices burn!

4. Turn the heat back up again to medium and add ? cup chicken stock to the curry paste.

Stir in and allow the sauce to thicken.

As the sauce thickens into a paste again, continue to add more of the stock, until it has all been stirred in.

5. Add the tin of tomatoes, stir in and set the sauce on to simmer for half an hour.

It's important you allow the time to do this as the flavours take a while to draw out and merge!

Add more hot water if the sauce becomes too thick.

6. Once the sauce has "cooked", add the lemon juice, honey and garam masala. Test for salt and add if necessary ? although try not to!

7. Once the sauce is a good consistency (not too thick, not too runny ? you can reduce the liquid by boiling off water if necessary), add the chopped turkey.

8. Stir the turkey in and heat through till piping hot all the way through to the middle of the largest piece.

9. Serve with brown rice, basmati rice or jacket potatoes, and a salad!