When you become a kencko member youâre getting more than monthly shipments of smoothies. Youâre also gaining access to our top-notch nutrition team!
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At kencko, weâre all about helping you start and stick to healthy habits. We want our smoothies to make enjoying your daily servings of fruits and vegetables a little more enjoyable and a little less stressful.Â
But we know that realistically, even if it were possible to monastically ditch the stress of modern life, take up residence in a house-sized fruit bowl, pass the time meditating on a throne made of bananas, healthy eating would still be challenging.
Which is fine! Drastic measures arenât always the answer. Sometimes all we need is a little help from a supportive confidant, who really knows their stuff. Thatâs why weâve made access to our nutrition team a core aspect of your kencko membership.Â
Got a question about healthy meal planning? Struggling to navigate the onslaught of nutritional information (and more realistically misinformation) as you scroll through your Instagram feed? Generally feeling a bit âmehâ after eating certain foods? Mallory, Carolina, and Sofia are just an email away.
Read on to get to know the three passionate pros who comprise kenckoâs nutrition team!
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Hailing from the plains of the Texas Panhandle but now a proud New Yorker, Mallory is our Director of Nutrition, and if youâre following us on Instagram, probably a familiar face! Malloryâs nutritional philosophy boils down to all foods fit.Â
âUnless you have a health concern or condition where you have to restrict foods, I donât think we need to completely restrict food groups or foods â you donât have to cut out pizza to be healthy.â
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It has to be Thai curry! Going through school for nutrition I canât look at a meal and not see a carbohydrate, a protein, and a fat. Brown rice for the whole grain, vegetables contribute to the carbohydrates, tofu is the protein, and of course thereâs going to be fat when youâre using oil or coconut milk for the curry sauce. Itâs my favorite food on the planet.
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I feel like Iâm always hating on keto, but carbs are necessary for health â our body needs them for energy! What happens when your body is going into ketosis is that itâs using fat for energy as a last resort. And whenever your brain has to use alternative sources of energy (such as ketone bodies) it puts a lot of stress on your body to make and use that source. If this is a diet youâre thinking about pursuing I definitely recommend talking with your doctor or dietitian about it!
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Carrots. Theyâre packed with vitamins A and C, they have fiber and antioxidants, plus carotenoids. Theyâre the superfood we donât call a superfood. This is so cheesy⌠but we buy raw carrots, and me and my husband and our dog all have âcarrot timeâ during the day when we just eat a carrot. Iâll say âcarrot timeâ and my dog runs to the kitchen for his carrot.Â
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Iâm going to go with mint greens! I like a green drink â I just like the idea of a green drink for some reason! But mint greens doesnât taste like a green smoothie. You know? It tastes so minty and delicious. Itâs refreshing.
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I like to go to new restaurants. Thatâs one of my favorite things about living in New York. I also like the outdoors in the city, if that makes sense. I donât like camping, but I like walking my dog. My husband works in photography and videography and I love seeing his projects. Sometimes Iâll take his camera and go out and take photos, just as a hobby.
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Sofia, the newest member of our nutrition team, calls Lisbon home, where she brings her lifelong passions for fresh, local food and its preventative powers to the table for her clients. When it comes to her approach to nutrition coaching, she firmly believes that âknowledge is power.âÂ
âYou have to learn to know your body, and you have to learn how to read labels and to recognize food quality. If you understand the bases of nutrition there is so much you can do with it!â
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A piece of grilled fish (the cod here is so good here in Portugal!), boiled potatoes with some extra virgin olive oil (and a squeeze of lemon juice), a salad with vegetables from my dadâs garden, and to drink, some homemade lemonade with a hint of mint and lots of ice. This meal always reminds me of summer days with family and friends.
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âYou shouldnât eat past 8:00 pm.â Every food has the same nutritional facts before or after 8:00 pm. People often think that after a certain time, any food that you eat will be harmful to your body. But really, what counts is the food you consume over the course of the whole day and your level of physical activity.
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Water! Water is needed for most body functions â flushing out waste from your body, regulating body temperature, helping your brain function. Itâs really common for a client to eat very healthy, but when I ask about water consumption, they arenât drinking enough of it. People often underestimate water and how important it is.
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Thatâs so difficult! Can I give my top five? I have a top ten and even getting a top five was hard! 1. peaches, 2. golden plums, 3. yellows, 4. beet reds, 5. mint greens.
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So many different things: cooking, reading, painting, gardening, just hanging out with family and friends â I love when you sit down for a meal together at 4pm and all of a sudden itâs 11pm and you didnât realize it. I also like group sports, like playing basketball, padel, and going for power walks.
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Carolina is our in-house expert on all things plant-based nutrition. Though originally from SĂŁo Paulo, she currently splits her time between Miami and New York City, and sums up her nutritional output in one simple mantra:Â eat more plants.
âI like to keep things simple. Plants have so many incredible properties and almost work as medicine in preventative ways. Even if people arenât vegan or vegetarian, if they simply eat more plants, the studies say theyâre at a decreased risk of certain diseases.â
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Iâm originally from Brazil where rice and beans is something everyone eats on a daily basis, usually with meat. Now that Iâve been plant-based for a few years, I like it with some sauce, then a side of steamed greens â or sauteed Swiss chard and collard greens â then roasted broccoli. It reminds me of my culture and home, and itâs a comfort food.
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âYou canât get enough protein being plant-based.â This is just not true at all. Protein is in everything â even in carbohydrate-rich foods like brown rice, oats, and spinach. It requires attention but itâs 100% possible and doable to get everything you need from plants.
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Dark chocolate! Cacao beans are so nutritious! Iron is a common nutrient deficiency and cacao is an incredible source. Itâs rich in polyphenols, and itâs so rich in many minerals such as manganese and magnesium, phosphorus, and copper. I think people just associate chocolate with candy and milk chocolate but forget that cacao itself is a nutrient powerhouse!
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âEat better, not less.â We live in a culture where people fear food, and they see food only as a thing that can cause weight gain. So people develop this fear and think cutting calories or macros is the answer, when the quality of the food youâre eating is what matters. If youâre eating wholesome foods, thatâs what counts.
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I think I have two! I love reds, probably because strawberries are my favorite fruit and Iâm obsessed with ginger. Every time I have it I feel like I forgot how much I love it. And golds, because of chocolate â obviously!
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Iâm an outdoors and nature person and I love hiking â especially in upstate New York, thatâs one of my favorite places in the world. Iâm definitely the person to pick mountains over the beach. (Donât get me wrong, I love the beach too.) I love kayaking, being in the water. And my husband and I love a great craft beer. Whenever we travel we try to go to a local brewery â and pick up a coaster for our collection, of course!