By Megan Rooney
Kermit the Frog would find it much easier being green these days.
Seemingly overnight, “green” has come to be equated with “environmentally friendly,” and our understanding of “being green” is continuing to advance by permeating not only our outer environment, but also our inner environment.
The growth of organic sections at supermarkets and healthier options on restaurant menus shouldn’t come as a surprise to Zelinda LeBoutillier, though.
As the CEO of Waterloo Gardens and a graduate of the The Health Educator course at Hippocrates Health Institute in South Florida, LeBoutillier, 76, belongs to the school of thought that healthy living begins with the small decisions we make every day, starting with what we eat. As a Certified Health Educator, she uses her food-teaching skills to promote the raw food lifestyle that has brought her pain-free living.
Many of you know and love Waterloo Gardens for the gorgeous outdoor foliage and decor, but did you also know about their status as up-and-comers in the raw food movement? This is all thanks to Zelinda, whose trademark name has become, “Zelinda, The Raw Living Food Chef.”
Can you get any greener than eating green?
“Why look and act your age?” says Zelinda in her “Healthy Living” section of the Waterloo website. “Raw food is digested and absorbed immediately, and that helps your skin be radiant, glowing, and elastic. Why would you spend time cooking food that is devoid of enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and amino acids? You are what you eat and your looks reflect it all!”
As a rule, raw foods are not heated above 112 degrees, and therefore enzymes are not destroyed in the cooking process. Proponents such as Zelinda say these foods retain an enormously higher nutrient value than foods that are cooked, and that higher nutrient value equals a smaller waistline.
“All my life, I have fought the battle of the bulge,” said Zelinda. “Lost it, won it, lost it, etc… When you eat raw food, your body shrinks and does not sag or droop. I have lost over 50 pounds on raw food, and have never been hungry or shaky. It’s not a quick fix, it is a permanent lifestyle that keeps you trim.”
Stop in at Waterloo to find out more about classes on gourmet raw food prep, which take place in Zelinda’s kitchen, along with the gourmet raw food luncheons and dinners that are also served at her home in Exton. Prepare to be amazed by lasagna, sans-pasta, prepared with fresh artichokes, tomatoes and basil, and (yes, believe it or not) cookies magically made without baking the dough.
In addition, the Waterloo greenhouses grow and sell various greens, wheatgrass, seeds and nuts, while also offering food preparation books, dehydrators, and classes on juicing to ensure a successful eat-green-and-stay-lean lifestyle.
Kermit would be proud. He might even tell Miss Piggy about it too.
Find Waterloo Gardens at 200 North Whitford Road in Exton or online at www.waterloogardens.com.
