The health and wellness trend is here to stay. As a personal chef it will therefore become ever more important for you to know how to prepare healthy meals for your clients that also taste delicious.
I bet even now many of your prospects and clients are requesting you to prepare healthy meals for them. In addition, you are likely being asked to make meals that will help your clients to lose weight, lower cholesterol, improve digestion and more.
The topic of healthy food and nutrition is a vast one, but a quick way to easily improve the health quotient of your meals is to regularly add anti-inflammatory ingredients when you cook because a growing amount of evidence suggests that inflammation may be the root cause of many common diseases and conditions.
Below is a list of some of the favorite, anti-inflammatory, super ingredients I frequently recommended to my clients when I was a health coach that you can use too.
Turmeric: A wonderful, peppery, warm spice that may be linked to the low incidence of Alzheimer’s disease in India. Many studies also suggest turmeric can destroy cancer cells and prevent their spread. I add a little of the spice to my whole grain brown rice to enhance its flavor and add a rich, yellow color.
Ginger: Yum! Ginger can add sparkle to any dish. It’s also a great digestive aid, induces cell death in ovarian cancer cells, and boosts the immune system. I like to add it to a Carrot-Apple soup that I make. It’s also a wonderful addition to fruit salad and vegetable stir fries.
Seeds: Such seeds as pumpkin, sunflower, hemp, chia, and flaxseeds contain a lot of either anti- inflammatory Omega-3 fatty acids or vitamin E. I like to use pumpkin and sunflower seeds to add crunch to cooked whole grains, sauteed kale or a salad. I grind chia and flaxseeds and add them to smoothies. I make my own hemp milk from hemp seeds.
Cooked Asian Mushrooms: My favorites include shiitake mushrooms which appear to protect the cardiovascular system and maitake mushrooms which seem to have a positive effect on the immune system. Although not proven, many believe Asian mushrooms to have anti-inflammatory properties as well. I love Asian mushrooms added to a sesame broccoli stir fry or a rice nut loaf that I make. They are also great cooked on their own with a little olive oil and garlic or incorporated into a meat dish.
Garlic: Most everyone loves garlic. It’s an ingredient that seems to make everything taste better. It is also a powerful anti-oxidant and has amazing health benefits when it comes to the cardiovascular system. The one catch is that garlic should be eaten chopped and raw to take advantage of its health benefits. When I cook, I add some garlic to the pan and cook with it, but I also reserve some fresh garlic to add to the dish later.
I’d love to hear from you about a healthy cooking challenge you may have faced and how you handled it. I would also love to answer any questions you may have about healthy cooking if you have them.
