Organic Living and Lifestyle Blog

The Holiday Season & Health - Finding the Right Balance

December 7th, 2007

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