Debbie Amster Discusses Food Choices (Photo by Felicia Black)
More than 30 congregants explored ways to “awaken our senses” to incorporate whole foods into their diets and make other smart eating decisions during Debbie Amster’s “Mindful Eating” presentation May 17 at Tikvat Israel.
The talk was part of TI’s Omer Project to heal body and soul in preparation for receiving the Torah on Shavuot. Amster, a cooking consultant and chef, began by noting that keeping kosher already involves mindful eating principles and told audience members they must also consider when and where they eat, not just what they eat.
Her presentation was filled with recommendations and cooking demonstrations and stimulated a host of dietary questions from participants. Amster provided a handout that included nutritious recipes, a shopper’s guide to pesticides in produce that listed the dirty dozen and the clean 15 and some nutritional principles to get started on the road to mindful eating. Throughout her talk, Amster prepared several healthy dishes, including a shredded asparagus salad and a black bean salad with tropical fruit, that participants were encouraged to taste at the end of the session.
The audience questioned Amster about the best oils to use when cooking or dressing a salad. She recommended olive, nut, avocado, coconut and other oils that are not processed and advised avoiding canola oil. She stressed eliminating processed food when possible, eating foods that are whole, reading labels, increasing vegetable consumption, eating locally grown foods, avoiding foods with GMOs, eating what is in season, using fresh herbs for flavor, buying organically grown foods and choosing wild caught over farm-raised fish. She acknowledged that each person has to make the best choices for himself/herself and that buying organic might mean eating out less often.
Participants went home armed with resources to employ these healthful eating ideas and begin to make changes to more mindful eating.
