The Age GRACEfully Cookbook: The Power of FOODTRIENTS To Promote Health and Well-being for a Joyful and Sustainable Life

Getting started

Whether you’re twenty-one or over fifty, your health is important. And what supports a healthy body more—inside and out—than the foods you eat? The recipes in this cookbook are designed to make good food loaded with anti-aging ingredients a joy to eat. Here’s some basic information to help you maximize your enjoyment from your The Age GRACEfully Cookbook.

What Is a FoodTrient?

Wholesome foods have nutrients our bodies need to maintain optimum function. The recipes in this book are presented around an organizing principle I call FoodTrients—twenty-six powerful nutrients that promote health, wellness, and longevity.

FoodTrient Properties

I have determined five categories of FoodTrients that are essential to age-defying and healthful living. Specially designed logos represent each category and are included with every recipe, summarizing the healthful properties of the ingredients. By incorporating these properties into your everyday diet, you are more likely to look and feel younger, have more energy, and improve your mood and mind. Who knew that the right foods in sufficient amounts could do so much good for your body? Now we have the science to prove it.

Finding FoodTrients in the Recipes

Accompanying each recipe is a list of its FoodTrients. I explain how these key ingredients defy aging and its effects with the specific foods, herbs, and spices that help keep skin looking younger, prevent the diseases of aging, and increase energy and vitality. You can get the most benefit from FoodTrients when they become the mainstay of your everyday diet, not from any one recipe.

FoodTrients at a Glance

The chart on pages 146–153 identifies the FoodTrients in my recipes, their sources, and their benefits to your health and well-being.

Whole Foods

My recipes are made with whole foods. This means that I have used ingredients that are unprocessed and unrefined to maximize their nutritional benefits. Whenever possible, I buy organic, seasonal foods. I use fresh fruits, vegetables, and spices instead of canned, frozen, or dried varieties; grass-fed beef instead of grain-fed beef; free-range, hormone-free poultry instead of farmed; fresh fish instead of frozen; low-fat or nonfat dairy products; and butter and sugar substitutes. Combining preservative-free foods that contain age-defying attributes with delicious, easy-to-make recipes is a sure path to achieving a joyful, sustainable life!

These days, wholesome foods are more available than they were even a few years ago. You can find them at supermarkets, health food and ethnic food stores, food co-ops, farmers’ markets, and