Guest post by Camile Sardina
America’s food system is slowly building a healthier base, and in the process, health
expert, Rich Goldstein, owner of Natural Epicurean Academy of Culinary Arts,
is always up to plate.
After learning the power behind food, Goldstein created a “healing cuisines” experience
for his students at Natural Epicurean.
It improves health and well-being by incorporating a total of five natural foods, natural
food practices and elemental experiences into everyday life.
The healing cuisines are: Macrobiotics (whole grains), Vegetarianism, Veganism,
Ayurveda (system of medicine and nature) and Raw and Living Foods.
Goldstein hopes his students can take what they have learned and make a worldwide
impact on food and health:
“Folks who continue to think of the Standard American
diet as “normal” tend to see that the five healing cuisines
are a departure from the way they are used to thinking about diet.
Once they begin to have a deeper understanding of the power of
cuisine to heal, and how personal that journey is, they begin to
appreciate the potential of relating food to health.”
Now, for the first time, Goldstein is giving the public a look into the healing cuisines
experience to improve more lives through food.
Here are his teachings:
The Experience:
The Challenge:
*Live by each healing cuisine for at least two weeks.
*See which cuisine fulfills you the most by tracking your mood and taking note of your experience.
*Then, incorporate your fitting cuisines into your everyday life permanently.
Great for:
Individuals tackling cancer, depression, heart disease or any other range of diseases.
What to Expect:
• Physical benefits: vitality, energy, and lower risk of disease.
• Mental benefits: happiness, motivation and stableness.
• Social benefits: By addressing our choice of cuisine, we find that the benefits unexpectedly
pervade much of our lived experience, resulting in a surprising increase in the simple joy and
satisfaction of eating and sharing meals with your family and friends which are fundamentally
health enhancing.
Goldstein says:
“When we transition into a healing cuisine we’re also transitioning
into a commitment to relate to our food in a different way.
We begin to prioritize our attention and focus our time on preparing
food, sharing food with others, and reflecting on the effects of food
that we can see, feel and personally experience.
In our society we spend so much time using food to move away
from our feelings and to distract us from our environments,
that often this transition of awareness, mindfulness, contemplation,
and practice is where we find the challenge.”
The 5 Healing Cuisines
1. Macrobiotic Cuisines (whole grains)
Whole grains are unique because they combine both the fruit and the seed into
an edible form in each grain, making them whole.
When whole grains are combined with a good variety of other unrefined plant foods,
all the elements that are necessary for human development become available to us.
Once a healthy level of digestion has been achieved, embracing grains as the mainstay of our
diet eliminates the problems of missing nutrients as well as cravings.
According to the Standard Macrobiotic Diet, one third to one half (30–60%) of the food
humans eat each day (by weight) should be whole grains.
2. Vegetarianism (plant-based diet)
Vegetarianism abstains from the consumption of meat in cooking.
A balanced vegetarian diet consists of fruits, vegetables, plenty of leafy greens, whole
grain products, nuts, seeds, legumes, eggs and dairy.
3. Veganism (no animal products whatsoever)
Veganism abstains from the consumption of any animal products in the diet.
Animal products, or by-products such as eggs, dairy and honey, are not used in cooking.
A balanced vegan diet consists of fruits, vegetables, plenty of leafy greens, whole grain products,
nuts, seeds, and legumes.
4. Ayurveda (medicine and nature)
Ayurveda is a system of medicines native to the Indian subcontinent.
Its theory is predicated on the balance of nature, and importantly, on our relationships
with ourselves and with the environment around us.
The Sanskrit word Ayurveda means science of life.
Ayurveda is one of the oldest ancient healing systems of medicine, at almost 2,000 years.
Ayurveda is an elemental system, where the qualities of the elements, combined into three
doshas, inform how we view food, medicine, our bodies, the natural world and our place within it.
5. Raw and Living Foods
Raw and Living Foods exclude most of the harmful fats, chemical contaminants, processed
foods, refined sugars, starches, and excessive animal proteins found in the average American
diet, all of which contribute to the declining health of our country.
A raw foods diet generally consists of 75% primarily uncooked, unprocessed foods, which are
foods that have never experienced a temperature above 118 degrees.
Raw focuses on raw vegan diets, but raw vegetarian (includes use of raw eggs and dairy) and
raw omnivorous diets (includes raw meat, fish, eggs and dairy) are also choices made by raw
foodists, although the latter is particularly rare.
Living foods are foods in which growth or enzyme activity is still present.
Living foods also include fermented foods such as sauerkraut, kimchi, yogurts, and cheeses.
Preparing Raw Foods
Raw food can be a complete lifestyle, but doesn’t have to be to receive benefits–the point
is to add more raw organic fresh fruits and veggies to any diet, as well as sprouted or
fermented ones.
Techniques for preparing raw foods include: juicing, sprouting, smoothies/sweet and savory
blending, fermenting, low temp baking and dehydrating.
For More Information
Learn more about the teachings of Rich Goldstein and Natural Epicurean Academy
of Culinary Arts at the Academy’s website.
About the author:
Camile Sardina is a communications chameleon living in NYC.
People inspire her. Food excites her. Writing, music and dance revive her. (@camilesardina)
Do you follow a healing diet or cuisine?
Which one do you you prefer?
Share your thoughts, experiences and comments with us.
This would be an amazing course to take! What beautiful principles.
I would be interested in an evening class.
I did not see that offered.
Hi Kathy,
You could contact the Academy and ask them if they are planning to offer evening classes.
My diet consists of high quality animal protein sources and vegetables with lots of healthy fat! That’s what works best for my tummy 🙂 Salmon is most certainly my favorite!
Hi GiGi,
Now we know why you look so great and have so much creative energy! Thanks for sharing your thoughts with me. I appreciate it.
I totally agree with the concept of “healing cuisines”. You are what you eat 🙂
Yes, it is so amazing how healthy whole foods, herbs, juices and a positive attitude can have such healing powers in our lives. Knowledge is power!
Looks very delicious, love to learn new aspect for cooking. thanks for sharing with Hearth and soul bloghop.
Very interesting! Similar idea to the Natural Gourmet Cookery School and the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. I think getting people to live the cuisine is such a wonderful idea.
I love the idea of this Culinary school! Finding people/chefs skilled at vegetarian cooking is so difficult. Most people think that simply means cooking without meat, but it can be so much more! Thanks for hosting and sharing at the Healthy Living Link Party!