By Celina Lafuente de Lavotha

Super-food chef, health coach & consultant at Naomi’s kitchen

Last week a group of young women gathered at the Munchkins Club in Monaco for one of the healthy cooking for children sessions by Naomi Buff, a super-food chef, health coach and consultant at Naomi’s Kitchen.

While preparing a light nutritious lunch, she explained the wonders of super-foods and how to combine them in an inventive way, making it attractive for children. She is able to conceal all the essential nutrients in her preparations, concocting simple recipes based on fresh, organic products, boosted with super-foods. The session was lively and interactive and the participants were able to learn about the healthy properties of the ingredients, ask questions and taste the meals, so they could in turn be able to make them for their little ones back home.

Naomi calls herself a passionate about nutritious eating. When she moved to the South of France from the UK a few years ago, she started experimenting with fruits and veggies, she then took a nutrition course to learn how to better feed her family, and later started to share her recipes and tips with others in her blog.

Realising that food was not the answer to everything, Naomi decided to enrol at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, where the main focus of her studies was on Holistic Health Coaching.  This led her to think in a different way and take a new approach to the basic principles of life in order to find balance, peace and a degree of authenticity.

She became aware that, like herself, many people wanted to make healthy choices for themselves and their families, so she began to run workshops, which are very well received in Monaco, while setting a trend for other people to become more aware and make changes. In her own words: “I run super-food workshops which show people how to make lasting changes to their diets and lifestyle by demonstrating simple recipes that are nutritious and super delicious and explaining the nutritional value, all recipes are available for taste testing too! My recipes avoid refined sugar, gluten and dairy and I show how to incorporate super foods into the dishes.”

Thanks to her career path, her knowledge and her nutritional studies, which she has been undertaking for more than four years, Naomi now works with the chefs of the Monaco Restaurant Group as a consultant, designing à la carte dishes with no gluten, refined sugar or dairy products, while keeping a gourmet approach.

In love with super-foods

Naomi loves super-foods plus boosting the diet with some nutrient dense natural foods. Below is a list of super-foods she gave the participants in her healthy cooking master class that you may order directly from her. The list indicated their properties and how to combine them in meals.

Super-foods recommended by Naomi:

• Organic Raw Agave Nectar
• Organic Raw Baobab Powder
• Organic Raw Cacao Butter
• Organic Raw Cacao Powder
• Organic Raw Cacao Nibs
• Organic Raw Camu Camu Powder
• Organic Raw Carob
• Organic Raw Chia Seeds
• Organic Raw Chlorella Powder
• Organic Raw Coconut Oil
• Organic Raw Cold Milled Flaxseed
• Organic Raw Hemp Protein Powder
• Organic Raw Hemp Seeds (Shelled)
• Organic Raw Lucama Powder
• Organic Raw Maca Powder
• Organic Himalayan Salt
• Organic Raw Spirulina Powder
• Organic Vanilla Bean Powder
• Organic Raw Wheatgrass Powder
• Organic Nutritional Yeast

Naomi advises that: “All products are raw and organic unless stated which means they are not heat processed in order to maintain maximum nutritional benefits. Products should be kept in a cool dark place unless stated otherwise. Everything should be enjoyed in moderation and notice how you feel after introducing any new products into your diet.”

www.naomis.kitchen

Photos by Monaco Reporter