Healthy Holiday Baking

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Healthy Holiday Baking
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This is the time of year when wherever you turn there's a plate full of cookies, a box of chocolate truffles, or a loaf of some enticing dessert bread. It's the hardest time of the year to maintain a healthy diet. Even if you have the best of intentions to avoid the sweet temptations, you have to have something to offer friends and family when they visit. Right?
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In fact, it's not just the holiday season that causes us to crave the festive fare. The weather changes that take place at this time of year actually tell our bodies that they need more fats and carbohydrates. Carbohydrates supply our internal hearths with the additional fuel we need to keep us warm. The added fats are (or at least were) needed to give us a little extra insulation against the cold. Of course, most of us live in well-heated homes and our need for extra padding is minimal, unless we're heavily into outdoor winter sports. Nevertheless, when the thermometer drops and the holiday goodies start appearing, many of us get a bad case of the sweets temptation.
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So rather than torture yourself, why not just be sensible about it. Shop for your goodies in the health food store or through a natural foods catalog. Better yet, make your own.
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But beware. Even if you are shopping at a health food store, you still need to read the labels so you know exactly what you're getting. As far as sweet treats are concerned, avoid processed sugar at all costs, including chocolate made with processed sugar. Look for grain sweetened chocolates or those made with dried cane juice or rice syrup. Also avoid bleached white flour. Your health food store should carry a variety of cookies made with whole grain flours and pure and natural ingredients such as non-aluminum baking powder. If possible, buy cookies, brownies and other baked goods that don't list sugar as the first ingredient. Remember, that all-important list of ingredients is in the order of most predominant ingredient to least.
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Unless you have a health problem that requires you to severely limit your intake of any sugar, don't go for the artificially sweetened treats. A moderate amount of natural sugar is probably a lot less harmful than chemically produced sweeteners such as Nutra-Sweet. By the same token, try to avoid the hydrogenated oils. Choose baked goods made with butter, canola spread or even palm or coconut oil rather than the artificially-produced hydrogenated oils. Remember, the hydrogenated oils block the essential fatty acids from doing their important body work.
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If you are doing your own baking, find recipes that call for whole grain flours and natural sweeteners such as maple syrup, raw honey, molasses, rice or barley syrup. Or you can try substituting natural products for the processed ones. Use equal amounts of Sucanat (brand name for dried cane juice) as a substitute for white sugar. Stevia, an herbal sweetener, can be purchased in liquid or powder form. Don't balk when you see the price; a very small amount (about Ľ teaspoon per recipe) is necessary. You can also use natural, organic nut butters to make your peanut butter cookies and other nutty treats. Of course, use organic or, better yet, biodynamic, ingredients whenever possible.
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There are delicious alternatives to the standard desserts and treats we've been exposed to all of our lives and a number of good cook books on the market to get you started.* In fact, desserts and snack foods can make a healthy contribution to your recommended daily servings of whole grains and fruits. Quick breads, muffins and fruit cobblers or turnovers, when made with good ingredients, are great ways to satisfy that holiday sweet tooth. Of course, some of the ingredients you will find in the healthy recipe books will be a little foreign to you unless you've already been baking this way. The health food store will have most, if not all, of them and whatever they don't have, they will probably be willing to order.
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So you don't have to be an ascetic, denying yourself all holiday goodies. Just be selective, eat your treats after meals not before, eat slowly and savor each mouthful and don't over-indulge.
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* See Suggested Readings section for a couple of good cookbooks to get you started making healthy desserts as well as all of the other courses.
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This article is intended for informational purposes only. Nothing in this publication is intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical diagnosis and advice. Always seek the advice of your physician or health-care provider before starting any new diet or procedure involving your health. Prompt professional medical guidance is recommended for any health problem.