In this chat with Rachelle, we’re diving into:
What it means to be a Holistic Chef
How to use The Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen
What oils to choose when cooking
How to reduce waste and plastic use
Why we need to care about how we cook
Introduction
Hello and welcome to Episode One of The Beyond Nourished Podcast - the place to become a better, more efficient health-focused cook in just 10 minutes or less.
I'm your host Rachelle Girardin. I am a Certified Nutritional Practitioner, holistic private chef, and I've been running my own business Beyond Nourished for over 10 years.
What is a Holistic Chef?
Because this is the first episode, I want to take a moment to clear up any confusion that you might have around the term “holistic”. You obviously know what a chef does, but what is it that a holistic chef does?
In this episode, I want to talk about the word holistic when we're talking about it from a cooking standpoint, and also ways that you can start to implement more holistic practices into your cooking. “Holistic” means many different things, depending on what context you're talking about. Generally speaking, holistic is referring to some type of wholesome approach to something where we're looking at the bigger picture of what's going on, we're looking at the bigger picture of what's being affected.
Here at Beyond Nourished, we believe in cooking with intent, and a mindset that not only focuses on the flavour of the food but also pays attention to how that food can impact our health or the health of the people that are eating our food. We think about the ingredients that we use and how they impact the planet. And we also think about how our cooking methods can affect the integrity of the food when we're cooking it.
I'm a holistic nutritionist, I graduated from the Institute of Holistic Nutrition here in Vancouver, Canada, (where I'm recording this podcast!) in 2011 - which was over 10 years ago at this point. I started cooking as a professional chef right out of school. If I think about it, I was actually still in school in my second semester, but I think that that's a story for another time.
I've never used the word holistic to subscribe to one type of diet, nor do I believe in any type of diet hierarchy. I believe that what we eat changes throughout our lifetime, and I believe in the power of all diets. At Beyond Nourished, we cook for people all across the spectrum of how people are eating. And truly, I believe that that is more of a holistic approach around just the work that we do as well.
The one thing that stays consistent is that we adopt and maintain holistic principles throughout cooking for all of those different people on using all of those different diets. So I was a holistic cook from the start, my whole career had been based around whole organic and nutrient-dense foods. I had to figure things out on my own because I actually didn't go to culinary school! Instead, I took my nutrition knowledge, and I bridged it with a love for cooking.
Now, having been in business for over 10 years, I've had so many amazing opportunities to teach other people how to adopt and implement these holistic principles into their cooking, really bridging the world of nutrition with the world of culinary and thinking more than just about the flavour of the food. What is that food doing to the person that's eating it? How is it affecting the bigger picture of the globe that we're living on?
As a little side note: as of 2020, you can actually get a designation to become a holistic chef through Beyond Nourished. But don't worry, you do not need any type of fancy designation or certification to learn how to cook more holistically! I prepared five very easy-to-implement tips for you to get started today.
Tip #1 - Familiarize Yourself with the Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen
If you've never heard of the Clean Fifteen or the Dirty Dozen before, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) puts out an annual list of the twelve most contaminated foods that are sprayed with pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides and also a list of which are the cleanest. When you reference this list, you can be confident buying the Clean Fifteen more on the conventional side because there is less residue on these items. The Dirty Dozen is the list of foods that you want to buy organic to stay away from all of those harmful things that are existing on the peels and within those ingredients.
If you're confused at the grocery store about what is organic and what is conventional, you can always look at the PLU code (that is the product and lookup code) on the little sticker that you see on produce.
TIP: If the PLU starts with a nine that means that it is an organically grown piece of produce.
If it happens to start with a three or four, that means that you're buying something conventional. And if it starts with an eight, this means that it is a genetically modified (GMO) product, and it should be avoided.
It's probably obvious why we want to include foods that are typically not sprayed with any type of harmful ingredients. The body can only handle so much when it comes to toxic overload, and we are living in some unprecedented times here in the world today. We want to take as many opportunities to support the body and continue to use natural and whole, organic foods that are free of as many of those pesticides and herbicides and fungicides as we can.
2021 Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen
Let's get into the list of where we're at in 2021 with these pieces of produce!
The Dirty Dozen
Strawberries
Spinach
Kale, collard greens and mustard greens
Nectarines
Apples
Grapes
Cherries
Peaches
Pears
Bell and Hot Peppers
Celery
Tomatoes
Interesting Fact: Strawberries and spinach have been the two worst offenders for quite a few years now. I think it's about the fifth or fourth year in a row - make sure you’re buying these organic!
This list does change slightly every year. You can go to the Environmental Working Group’s website and check out the updated list every year. I’d recommend familiarizing yourself with it so you know when you really want to make sure that those are organically grown products and when you can save a couple of bucks by buying off of the Clean Fifteen list while still knowing you’re protecting your health.
The Clean Fifteen
Avocados
Sweet Corn
Pineapple
Onions
Papaya
Sweet Peas
Eggplant
Asparagus
Broccoli
Cabbage
Kiwi
Cauliflower
Mushrooms (one of my favourites!)
Honeydew Melon
Cantaloupe
A little side note is that (especially when grown in the US) sweet corn, papaya and squash tend to be genetically modified when they're being grown. Please, watch out for that when buying them. They're the three on the list that I tend to continue to buy organic, even though they do land on the Clean Fifteen.
Tip #2 - Avoid Inflammatory Cooking Oils
Moving on to the second tip, we want to make sure that what we're cooking our food in from an oil standpoint, is as health-conscious as we can find. What this means, is that we want to stay away from harmful inflammatory vegetable cooking oils like canola, sunflower, safflower and soybean oil.
These oils have a huge inflammatory response when we eat them. They are a highly processed food - if you can call them that. One of the best pieces of literature that I've read around the study of this is called Deep Nutrition. If you can get your hands on that book, it is a little bit science-y however, it really does paint the picture of why we want to stay away from these harmful oils.
The problem is that these oils are found in almost every pre-packaged food. It's also the go-to oil for many restaurants because it is so cheap. When you're cooking from home, you have the power to choose your oils. We want to focus on using healthy alternative fats and oils like avocado, coconut, olive, grapeseed, grass-fed butter is great at low temperatures, grass-fed tallow is wonderful, or even using ghee, which is a clarified butter. Switch up your cooking oils today if you haven't done that already.
Tip #3 - Grow Your Own Food
We want to grow as much of our own food as possible! The nutrients in our food are what really make that food have a jam-packed variety of nutrition - but our food is only as healthy as the soil that it grows in. By having the power to grow your own food, you get to be the decider of the quality of your soil. You don't have to overcomplicate growing your own food. You might want to start a little herb garden or plant a bunch of kale which is very easy to maintain and keep even in colder temperatures.
At the very least, try to buy as much food as you can from a local or seasonal perspective. You can also go to your local farmers market to get ingredients that you haven't necessarily bought but that have been very grown close to where you might be living and it's so fun to get connected with farmers in your area once you start to do it.
What gardening and buying local food does is guarantees that your food has more nutrients because it's picked and sold closer to the source. It's also so much better for the environment because it's not being flown or driven long distances just to get into your hands.
Tip #4 - Reduce Plastic and Waste
Try to reduce the amount of packaging that you buy. This is becoming increasingly difficult to do if you're buying foods at the grocery store, which is another great reason why buying from the farmers market is so awesome - food you buy from the market typically comes in compostable containers, or oftentimes nothing.
Either way, you want to avoid using plastic bags. I'm not just talking about at the grocery store checkout, but also when you're picking out your produce - there's no need to put every little single piece of produce in a different plastic bag. If you do want to do bag your food, I highly suggest buying a reusable mesh bag or at least looking for the paper bags that are usually in the mushroom section.
Overall, trying to reduce the amount of packaging that you buy can have a great effect on the planet, and is something we always want to consider because recycling - even though it is a step in the right direction - is also just a very difficult process to get things back to a place of being close to nature.
Tip #5 - Choose Your Cooking Equipment Wisely
The final tip that I have to start cooking more holistically, is for you to care about your food and the way that you cook your food. I'm not just talking about putting a lot of love into it. I'm talking about the pieces of equipment that you're choosing to use. We want to stay away from the microwave. Microwaves zap tons of beneficial nutrients. While you’re at it, also get rid of any Teflon or nonstick pans that you have. They contain a lot of toxins that can leach into your food when they're heated up.
Instead, you want to look for cooking equipment that is a little bit better for you - things like cast iron pans, stainless steel pans, or something that is enamel coated like Le Creuset. There are also two brands that I love called Salad Master and Cerico. They are a little bit on the pricey side, but they have lifetime warranties and are tried tested and true. They're made with surgical steel, and there's no leaching into your foods. The body can only take so much toxic load, so again, this is just a way to reduce that. At the very least look for a toxin-free coating and get rid of any Teflon or nonstick pans that you have kicking around - especially if they have any scrapes or blemishes on them.
You also want to look for really heavy cookware, things that are durable. Consider that even though it might feel like a lot to spend $200 on a pot, you're probably spending $50 on a pot and it's breaking down or it's not working and you're going to have to throw it out and buy another one. Invest in some really good quality cookware, even if you can only get your hands on a couple of pieces.
So there you have it! Five ways that you can start to cook more holistically today. I'd love if you stay tuned for more episodes so that you can gain more insights, learn new tips and tricks to becoming a better, more efficient and dare I say, holistic cook.
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