Life is all one big balancing act isn’t it? Are we too focussed on health, we forget to have fun? Or are we having so much fun we forget about health? I’ve been guilty of going too far at times and just having biodynamic brown rice and steamed vegetables. Then we come to Christmas and there’s much temptation and I’m tempted to go too far the other way. Why, with all the Christmas parties on I’ve had more cake, white bread and softdrink in this week than I’ve had all year! And it’s only the first week of December!!
My goodness, how am I going to get through the rest of the holiday season?
Today I met Terry Wilson, creator of Leavain Artisan Bread & Pastries, a newly opened bakery in my neighbourhood whose specialty is Bold Organic Sourdough. I was buying treats for a Christmas brunch with friends and came across his beautiful organic range. He’s helped with my dilemma - I don’t want to completely forget about health but I want to have fun too.
We were talking about his cakes as I was choosing a selection of friands for brunch. Naturally they’ve got butter and sugar but I’m happy there’s no transfat, preservatives and artifical nasties.
I asked Terry about his organic breads and was interested to know whether his breads have no yeast added. I’ve become a huge fan of sourdough bread that doesn’t have any added yeast. I’ve discovered in the past couple of years just how damaging to our health, especially for women, yeast can be, creating an acidic environment in our bodies that makes us slow, sluggish and more susceptible to illness. Enough about that though.
Terry explained that most of his breads don’t have yeast added but he shared his secret with me “food not has to be good for you, it also has to taste good and look good”. He explained that adding a tiny amount of yeast to the fruit in the fruit and nut loaf really helped bring out the flavor.
I know these aren’t really secrets but sometimes we can get so focussed on food being good for us that it’s easy to get carried away.
For someone who loves food as much as I do, meeting foodies like Terry is a great reminder that food can be good for you and also taste and look great. Here’s a snapshot of the tasty friands I bought for brunch: fig & date (top left), orange and poppyseed (bottom) and pear and polenta (top right).
You can find Terry Wilson and his wonderful range of Organic Artisan Breads and Pastries in Morningside (Brisbane) at Colmslie Plaza on the corner of Junction and Wynnum Roads.
What’s your favorite tip for balancing health and the holiday season? Please write and share. I respond to all comments personally and I’d love to hear from you.
Technorati Tags: organic, holiday, christmas, season, festive, health, bread, bakery, yeast, "terry wilson", organic bakery, artisan, brisbane, morningside, natural
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December 7th, 2007
After yesterday’s video on Dairy production, I thought you might be interested to know more about milk. I’ve found this to be a very interesting article handing the most controversial issues:
- calcium
- pasteurisation
- homogenisation
Yours in health!
Kerri
What is milk? You’d expect this to be a rhetorical question, however to give this article any justice I thought it would be important to give a brief definition (though nearly every human being has tasted milk at least once in their lifetime, I think.)
Milk is an opaque liquid that is produced by cows. If you need a further scientific or linguistic breakdown, then pick up a science book.
We have been told since childhood that milk is very good for us and that it helps build strong bones etc. Though these statements were true at one point in time, they do not hold much truth at present (exception: raw organic milk from grass fed cows – see further below).
Ok, so what has happened to our milk you ask?
Well here goes…
First of all, the cows are not treated very well to say the least, they are contained in excruciating environments and subject to various substances (rBGH, antibiotics).
The purpose of Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) – a genetically engineered hormone - is to force the cows to produce more milk than their bodies would usually produce. This in itself doesn’t sound very acceptable, however it gets worse.
As a result of being regularly injected with rBGH and therefore being forced to produce more milk, the cows become highly susceptible to udder infections (mastitis). This results in an increase in the amount of pus which ends up in the milk we drink. Yes I said PUS. Results show that administering cows with rBGH results in a 79% increase in udder infections (mastitis) and this results in a 19% increase in somatic cell counts (i.e. pus and bacteria in the milk we so readily consume!).
Now if that hasn’t put you off wait for this, how do you think this udder infection is treated. That’s right, ANTIBIOTICS!!!
Do these antibiotics end up in our milk, you bet!
The use of rBGH stimulates the production of another hormone called Insulin Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1) – approximately 5 times more production of IGF-1. IGF-1 is directly responsible for increasing the amount of milk that is produced.
IGF-1 is responsible for the quick growth of infants (both in humans and cows).
When cow’s milk is consumed by non-infants, it can behave as a cancer-accelerator – and no it isn’t destroyed by pasteurization (see below).
Next, come in Louis Pasteur. The man behind pasteurisation. Pasteurisation is the process of heating liquids with the purpose of destroying viruses and harmful organisms (e.g. bacteria, molds, yeast etc.)
This process is beneficial if only the bad bacteria were killed. Unfortunately though, the good bacteria (known to most of you as probiotics) is destroyed too as well as the key enzymes that enable most humans to digest milk properly, notably the enzyme lactase which helps digest the milk sugar lactose. Interesting fact: before pasteurisation, milk contains a good amount of vitamin C and Omega 3 fatty acids!
Oh yeah, forgot to tell you that pasteurisation also changes the calcium into an insoluble form that the body can no longer absorb. The amount of phosphorous in milk also blocks this absorption, if it may even happen. Did you know that there is a high correlation between osteoporosis and high milk consumption, wonder why that is?
Broccoli, sardines and nuts contain significant amounts of calcium, so don’t worry about not getting your calcium from milk which you won’t get either way.
Step in Mr. Homogenisation. Homogenisation is the process of breaking up the fat into smaller sizes so that the fat does not collect at the top of the milk. How is this done? The milk is forced (at high pressure) through small orifices. Why is this done and what implication does this have you may ask. As with pasteurisation, homogenisation extends the shelf-life of milk and also makes it look “nicer” – don’t ask – apparently the fat accumulating at the top of unhomogenised milk is somewhat unalluring. Didn’t realise people bought milk cos it looked so pretty!
Say goodbye to your arteries, homogenisation allows the enzyme xanthine oxidase (XO) to pass intact into the blood stream. In the blood stream it starts to attack the tissue of the artery walls, which causes lesions that the body tries to heal by laying down a protective layer of cholesterol. End result: scar tissue and plaque with a build up of cholesterol and other fatty deposits.
Okay, now lets talk about what the cows are fed, I promise I’ll stop in a bit so you can drink your milk 
Most cows are fed grains as opposed to green pastures. This leads to a great imbalance in the fat makeup of the cows and the fatty acid ratios. Grass-fed cows contain a larger amount of omega-3 fatty acids as well as conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) – shown in numerous studies to be beneficial in many aspects of health.
Alternative?
Well you could always have soya milk, though this type of milk is shrouded in yet another set of less favourable studies and evidence, though there are some good arguments for and against soya milk, your choice. Other varieties include rice milk, oat milk, and camel’s milk (if you live in the middle-east).
What else can you do? Well you could seek out a raw milk producer that conforms to many of the aforementioned issues, though this shall be extremely difficult due to the current jurisdiction in most countries. You could always use water with your cereals instead, i’m serious 
If you’re adamant about having milk, then I advise organic unhomogenised milk. If you can’t get this type, then the next alternative would be organic skimmed milk. Both of which would require most people to take a lactase supplement.
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I specialise in nutrition and am a qualified level 3 (REPS) Personal Trainer (5 years)
I also hold a BSc. (HONS.) in Information Systems with Business Management.
http://www.theHealthBlogger.com |
Technorati Tags: organic milk, dairy, milk, homogenisation, pasteurisation, calcium, organic, alternative
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December 4th, 2007
When I first heard there was Trans fat (a.k.a. partially hydrogenated oil) in my peanut butter I thought nothing of it. A friend said, “Here’s some peanut butter it has partially hydrogenated oil in it. I heard that hydrogenated oil is bad for you so I don’t eat it any more, but since it’s only partially hydrogenated oil it’s probably okay.” I took the peanut butter with a thank you. Something inside said, “I eat this all the time.” Yet, every time I picked it up to open, I would think partially hydrogenated oil might be bad for you. I read the label and it said partially hydrogenated oil right on the label, so I would put it up again.
One day I had a little time so I looked it up on the internet. I discovered hydrogenated oils and partially hydrogenated oils (a.k.a. Trans fats) are fats that are artificially produced not to melt at room temperatures. They help to preserve foods - that’s why they are so popular with food companies. Trans fat increases bad cholesterol and may also increase the risk of coronary heart disease.
Trans fat is treated by the body like every other fat and used to coat the cell wall. This causes your cell walls to harden and become resistant to nutrient intake. A situation that exists for up to seven years after the consumption of the offending trans fat - that’s why you don’t need to eat it. Now remember when your cells can’t absorb nutrients you tend to eat more food to get the nutrients your body needs.
The fact is that absolutely no amount of artery clogging Tran’s fat is good for you - so don’t eat it. And please don’t feed it to your children.
Tran’s fat is the sweet greasy Oreo middle of the regular Oreo cookie. The Oreo cookies in the green packaging and the Golden Oreos don’t have Tran’s fats. However, almost all processed foods including frozen foods, cool whip, cake mixes, cookies and snacks have it as an ingredient. The same is true for most peanut butters (natural peanut butters you have to stir don’t have it).
Why am I bringing this up now, because it is the holidays and everyone will be sharing food. Year before last my daughter and I were avoiding Trans fats so we decided to do our own baking. Several recipes called for shortening so we bought a big can of Crisco. Fortunately, I noticed that the kitchen was hot but that can of shortening was still solid. We know that natural fats get soft at room temperatures so we dropped it in the trash. Last year we spent Thanksgiving at my mother in law’s house. Margarine (pure trans fat) was a main staple at breakfast and I truly enjoyed the banana pudding, made with cool whip and vanilla wafers that all contained trans fat.
I ate all these foods without saying anything then. Later I try to educate one or two sentences at I time. You know margarine contains trans fat and that’s very bad for you. You should try to avoid it, butter is better and it is. So please eat the butter (all natural organic if possible).
Remember, Trans fat may kill you and me but it also increases a product’s shelf life - so it is in a lot of products. To avoid it you will have to read labels and read them closely, because, some companies knowingly state they have zero grams of Trans fat when, what they mean is they have Trans fat, but you have to eat two or more servings to get a gram. So here’s the question how much Trans fat is good for you? None. And that is absolute - no question about it.
So take charge and do what you have to do, read the labels and don’t eat the Trans fat.
Technorati Tags: hydrogenated, oils, trans, fats, oreo, peanut butter, health, nutrition, tips, organic, natural
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December 3rd, 2007
