For Goodness Sake
By Rosie Conway
By Rosie Conway
“If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t,” says Michael Pollan, nutrition activist and Professor of Journalism at UC Berkeley. This quote indicates that our level of health is a direct reflection of the quality of food we eat.
Simply put, the better we eat, the better we feel. Nourished Table & Home in Hinsdale agrees. Whether it be cooking, eating, coaching, or environmental awareness, Nourished Table & Home provides simple approaches to better living. “The best thing we can do is eat real food,” says Kathy Napleton, founder and wellness chef. “The further we get away from Mother Nature, the sicker we are getting.”
That is why anyone can benefit from the numerous offerings at Nourished. Whether you want to take a small first step toward overall health awareness or you want to completely overhaul your lifestyle, Nourished Table & Home offers an array of modalities to help each individual person reach his or her unique wellness goals.
Napleton says that first and foremost, to be healthy, people need to be educated on how to prepare, eat, and maintain a healthy diet. “People aren’t getting that food education anymore,” says Napleton. “It’s important to understand that you don’t have to turn your whole world upside down. Cooking doesn’t have to be laborious.”
All offerings are founded on the belief that health is based on following eight basic laws encompassing food, water, exercise, air, sleep, sunshine, spiritual connection, and moderation. To benefit from these eight laws of health and to see results of the programs offered at Nourished Table & Home, clients should understand that the benefits are cumulative.
“When you start incorporating these wellness practices into your everyday life, you will feel better,” says Napleton.
Because there is no one-size-fits-all approach to wellness, guests have the flexibility of deciding where to begin their journey to better health. “For those who want a mini-experience of wonderful lifestyle hacks, the Lunch & Learn Series is so convenient,” says Napleton. “These are ideal for those who want to make healthy changes but feel overwhelmed on where to begin. We cover those starting points and stress the importance of little changes that build on themselves.”
Ideal for busy moms and working professionals or groups of friends wanting to try something new, these 90-minute Lunch & Learns are a perfect way to educate yourself with valuable bits of information while enjoying a freshly prepared farm-to-table lunch. Topics include: New Year, New You, From Junkfood to Superfood, Crack Your Cravings, and Healthy in a Hurry. “It’s a great way to familiarize yourself with Nourished,” says Nutrition and Wellness Consultant Taylor Wessel.
Nourished also offers several Healthy Cooking Classes where the goal is to reconnect people with real food. Incorporating food education, these cooking classes are hands-on or demonstration style and follow a seasonal farm-to-table approach. Their newest class, Cook Healthy and Eat Clean in 2017, is a great foundational class for clients.
“This is all about teaching you what it means to eat clean, whole, and unprocessed foods,” says Napleton. “It explains what fuel the body needs. We also teach clients how to stock the fridge, pantry, and freezer with basic items.”
Other Cooking Classes include Essential Knife Skills, Healthy, Fresh & Vegetarian I and II, Soups & Stews for Supper, and the Healthy Dinners duo on pastured chicken and wild-caught fish. “In our Essential Knife Skills class we teach technique, and once you have techniques down, you can make anything quicker and easier,” says Napleton.
For those looking for an individualized approach, Nourished offers private Nutrition and Wellness Coaching with options ranging from hourly custom consults to a Six-Week All New You Program. They also have a 60-Minute Grocery Store Tour, a 3-Day Refocus and Reboot Program, and the ever popular 3-Week Lifestyle Revamp. “Clients have been recently attracted to the 3-Week Lifestyle Revamp,” says Wessel. “Among other things, this program includes a Lunch & Learn, an aromatherapy consultation and custom-blended inhaler, and a Grocery Store Tour, so it’s brings everything together.”
The latest addition to the Nutrition and Wellness Coaching is Lymphatic Enhancement Therapy (LET) which helps lymph fluid move more efficiently through the body. This private service is a combination of sound waves (vibrational energy), electrostatic current, light therapy, and hands-on stimulation which helps the immune system to function better and to flush out toxins from the body. “Lymph fluid should be flowing like fresh water throughout the body but sometimes, because of poor lifestyle choices, it gets sluggish,” says Napleton. “It’s in this stage where toxins become stagnant and unable to be eliminated by the body.”
Finally, and equally important, Nourished Table & Home focuses on living naturally. Shockingly enough, by the time she leaves her house in the morning, the average woman has already put approximately 126 different chemical ingredients on her body. The average woman uses 12 personal care products per day and unbeknownst the her, most of these chemicals are not safety regulated. “Over time, these chemicals affect the body negatively. They affect sleep, zap energy, and can create hormonal imbalance,” says Wessel. “More importantly, they have a cumulative effect on our overall health.”
To combat such toxicity, Nourished Table & Home offers several ways for clients to easily begin making small changes in their overall living environment. Their very own Infusions™ Aromatherapy Bar introduces the natural healing benefits of essential oils for the mind, body, and spirit. “These oils have been used for thousands of years,” says Aromatherapy Coach Shannon Roche. “With healing properties on physical and emotional levels, they help to eliminate many imbalances.”
However, chemicals from personal products aren’t the only culprits toxifying our systems. “People are unaware of how many chemicals are in everyday cleaning products,” says Lauren Mandarino, Director of Business Development and Lifestyle Programs. “The unfortunate truth is that our homes are inundated with toxins, and problems arise when we’re exposed to these chemicals in combination or repeatedly over time.” To help clients transition, Mandarino leads a Home Detox Lunch & Learn that talks about the type of cleaning and laundry products you can use to create a healthier, more natural home environment.
Nourished Table & Home focuses on the importance of aromatherapy and the use of essential oils to purify the air and to help with today’s common conditions like stress, insomnia, and anxiety. “It’s about getting back to Mother Nature and using the natural ingredients that generations before us used,” says Mandarino.
Nourished Table & Home sells a variety of products that are available to use for your body and in your home. Products include aromatherapy diffusers and natural candles, hand-crafted organic soaps, dead sea salt scrubs, body lotions and oils, linen mists, hand sanitizers, and more. They also sell a four-pack of cleaning products that are made with all-natural ingredients.
Overall, small changes can have a large impact. Nourished Table & Home believes that education is the key to making healthier choices—and these choices can have a lasting impact on overall well-being. “Teach your children how their body works and what it needs to have vitality, energy, and a sharp brain,” says Napleton. “That’s the greatest gift you can give to your family.”
For more information, please visit nourished.com or call 630-968-9355.
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