Start the New Year Off Right with Functional Foods

At Eurest, we understand the tremendous impact we can have on healthy living for all. This is one of the main drivers of our wellness and sustainability platform, Food with Purpose, designed for the good of people and the planet. Read more about this quarter’s Food with Purpose focus area, Better Nutrition Choices: Functional Foods.

By Suzanne Landry, VP of Wellness & Sustainability

Whatever Eurest does, you will find Food with Purpose at the core of it. The platform is the foundation of meaningful initiatives we lead that influence and leverage health and well-being in addition to environmental and social change. It encompasses the ingredients we use, the recipes we create, and the passion of our people who want to make a difference in the workplace and beyond. We seek to create a positive change in the food system for the health and wellbeing of people and the planet through Better Nutrition Choices, Sustainably Sourced Ingredients & Diverse Partnerships, Lessening Carbon Emissions and Reducing Waste.

Better nutrition choices: Functional foods

To help our clients and guests stay involved with our Food with Purpose cornerstones, we’re excited to introduce a quarterly focus on these key initiatives that you will see reflected through menu planning, promotions, education, chef’s tables and Teaching Kitchens. This quarter we are rolling up our sleeves and getting in the kitchen to expand our portfolio and recipe collection with better nutrition choices through functional foods.

What are functional foods? These are ingredients that offer health benefits that extend beyond their nutritional value. Some types contain additional ingredients designed to improve health. Our chefs and registered dietitians are building menus with these foods incorporated to ensure you start off the new year on the right foot – all without sacrificing great taste to improve our health through foods.

All quarter long, we’re offering the following functional food promotions in our marketplaces to make eating healthy the easy choice:

• January: Build A Better Bowl – an exhibition station bowl concept that puts functional foods at the center of the plate.
• February: Inspired Kitchen featuring beets – a plant forward exhibition station concept that takes advantage of all the goodness beets has to offer as a functional food with “unbeetable” recipes
• March: National Nutrition month featuring legumes in interesting ways

Powered by Food with Purpose, we highlight functional ingredients at the peak of flavor with health benefits beyond basic nutrition to reduce inflammation, immunity and promote a happy belly. These foods coupled with a healthy diet, body weight and lifestyle choices – exercise, moderate alcohol intake, smoking cessation and stress management – can significantly reduce risk of disease.

Which functional foods should you look for?

Functional foods often include antioxidant rich Immunity Foods, such as citrus fruits, berries, bell peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, tomatoes, and herbs and spices (ie – oregano, garlic, cinnamon & turmeric).

Anti-Inflammatory Ingredients that help reduce inflammation include fatty fish like salmon, walnuts, flax & chia seeds, turmeric and ginger.

Fiber and Probiotics are also key to a happy belly. They can help support a healthy microbiome and flora which are the microorganisms in our gut that impact our health. Great choices include fruits with skin, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, pulses, fermented foods and yogurt.

From us to you, we wish you and your families abundant health and happiness this year!