At the Jemez Valley Community Wellness community education event “Calm & Clear: Feeding the Nervous System,” guests were invited to an interactive cooking demonstration to learn about how fresh and prepared produce and natural ingredients can improve nervous system health for overall vitality. The program held on October 15th was the last of five in JVCW’s inaugural “Food as Medicine” wellness series that took place at The Rose Center for Integrative Health.
To open the program, Dr. Juliette Sweet provided an insightful overview of how the body’s nervous system naturally helps to regulate the function of all other systems by balancing natural sleep-wake signals to control the stress hormone cortisol. She shared more about how the parasympathetic nervous system can be tuned by taking bitters before a meal to stimulate the Vagus nerve, in addition to mindful breathing before eating to better help digestion and nutrient uptake for maximum health effects. Dr. Sweet is the Executive Director of JVCW and specializes in Naturopathic and Ayurvedic education, prevention, and treatment.
“We’re talking about something called food hygiene,” shared Dr. Sweet. “This means not working while eating and taking time to think about and smell your food. It’s a simple practice to take a moment to get in the present before eating – many people already do this with a prayer before their meal. Through this series, we hope that people can learn techniques to be mindful about what they eat, to include selecting and preparing natural foods so that their bodies can work at their best to improve their health, overall.”
The ten participants enjoyed an interactive hands-on cooking demonstration by Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Fallon Bader. The recipes emphasized the role of warming and unctuous ingredients like oils and spices to achieve the ayurvedic balancing of “Vata,” or air and ether. Fallon showed attendees how to prepare a nutritious and flavorful meal of coconut curry dal, baked apple with a coconut oat crisp, and a creamy butternut squash soup with late season veggies. Guests also enjoyed samples of locally blended “Mellow Moments” wellness tea with lemon balm and ashwagandha from EMTeas in Cuba.
“Most of the ingredients that we chose to feature in these recipes are common enough to find at the local grocery, but we are also looking for ways to encourage people to grow their own or buy from nearby producers in their own communities,” says Fallon. “Squash, apples, and herbs are very nutritious and are generally easy to grow here in New Mexico.”
As a special feature for this session, Sarah Ayoub, LMSW, coached guests in several mindful breathing exercises. She says, “Your breath is your most accessible resource for nervous system regulation.” People can learn easy techniques to help them balance their energy and naturally cope with stress and changes in mood to avoid overeating or making poor food choices on impulse. “Slow belly breathing with an emphasis on the exhale can bring us down from heightened states and deep inhales can energize us when we are low,” coached Sarah.
The monthly “Food as Medicine” series began in June. Each of the five events focused on a different body system with local ingredients and communal nourishment. Fallon’s monthly presentations featured a cooking demonstration and tasting focused on seasonal healing through food. Dr. Sweet and other invited practitioners and special guests provided informational sessions to connect natural foods to whole body health and wellness.
The in-person events were held from 5-7pm at The Rose Center for Integrative Health at 8372 Highway 4, across from Jemez Valley High School. A follow-on series is being planned to start on December 3rd and continue through 2026. To see future event postings and to make a charitable donation to support this type of community health education, visit https://www.jvcw.org/.
