Is There a Wellness Magic Bullet?

… and Becoming a Board Advisor for the Seed Free Oil Alliance

BEauties, a couple of months ago, I let you know how Just BE Kitchen was named the first seed-oil free certified restaurant in the country. This was a milestone in our longstanding mission to make anti-inflammatory comfort foods mainstream, and to bring you – our diners – the BEst ingredients possible.

This is the very core of what we are about. When we reduce our exposure to inflammatory agents, we can improve our health, so our goal every single day is to offer our customers an easy, delicious way to balance what comes into your bodies.I wanted to address something coming up in the wellness world at the moment: is eating a seed oil-free diet a panacea for wellness? No. Can you eat French fries cooked in olive all day long and thrive? Nope. Do we have to eat "perfectly" in order to be well? Absolutely not.

Nutrition – like life – is a balancing act. (You know this better than anyone, you busy human, you!) What matters most is not daily perfection, but small steps to do kind things for our bodies that add up to improved health outcomes and generally feeling BEtter (which we all want!).

Don't have time (or interest) in going for a run? Take a walk. Amp up the walk? Add a GORUCK. Impossible to get 8 hours of sleep? Try for 7.

The same is true for food! It is virtually impossible to eat "perfectly" (whatever that means) every day, but choosing the BEst we can find/afford/manage in any given meal steers us towards the ultimate goal of thriving and BEing well in our bodies.

Does limiting your exposure to inflammatory foods help your body function better? Yes. That said, inflammation itself is multipart and complicated: stress, environmental toxins, and underlying health conditions can all factor in. What matters most is a health-forward mindset focused on reducing inflammation and toxicity where and when you can, but not to beat yourself up when and if that's not plausible. When we choose these small, incremental steps over throwing our hands in the air and doing nothing at all, we journey gently in the direction of wellness.

Getting our seed oil free certification was a natural extension of our brand, our food philosophy and our focus that we've had since Day 1 (We have always been seed oil free well before it was more widely understood. After we received our certification, and seeing the process that's required for restaurants to receive certification, and the complicated matrix of a restaurant's business with various vendors and products coming through the doors, it can be difficult for an average restaurant to navigate how to minimize or eliminate seed oils.

So going through the process, I was elated when the alliance asked me to be an advisor. And because of this marriage of our foundation based on anti-inflammatory foods and ingredients AND being recognized for our choices in oils, it made sense to join the Advisory Board for the Seed Oil Free Alliance. SOFA's mission is to help the food industry switch to healthier oils and fats. Just BE Kitchen chose to be SOFA-certified because its mission aligned with our central mission; we wanted our anti-inflammatory slant to be validated and since we were already doing this work, it made great sense to make it "official".

As an advisor, I have the opportunity to share ways to enhance the restaurant certification process, ensuring that decisions align effectively with the needs of restaurants. And here's the truth: being seed oil-free is not mission critical – nor financially possible – for most restaurants. JBK is scratch kitchen: we make everything from simple ingredients right in our restaurants. This is not every restaurant's way, nor should it be. Let me tell you: being seed oil-free is not a cost-effective way to do business. It is pricier to source whole food ingredients. I made this very intentional choice for this company, and while it suits us perfectly, it doesn't make sense for every food purveyor out there.

My aim in working with SOFA is to help restauranteurs focus their energies on the biggest impact decisions they can make for their clients, doing the best they can while still staying afloat. Educating restaurants about where to look for seed oils in the products they buy and how to mitigate their use where it counts: think salad dressings, dips, marinades, alternative milks and desserts.

Being seed oil-free is one way to do business. It's also just one way to live. There are plenty of small steps we can each take daily to BE well and live well. If I can help coach other businesses to make tiny shifts to help their diners feel and BE BEtter, too, I will consider this a win. 

Remember: all those small steps add up and no one (and nothing) is perfect.