From porridge to salads, food is always the cue to go nuts. Emma Pritchard meets the duo giving Berkshire a boost
This month marks the start of the British nut season – and you don’t need to be a countryside forager to enjoy the myriad health benefits that these wonder nuggets have to offer. With their Jake’s Boost range of natural and nutritious nut and seed butters, Sunningdale duo Ansje Germann and Dan Pearce do the hard work for you.
“Not a day goes by when we don’t eat nuts and seeds of some variety,” says Ansje. “They’re such a versatile ingredient – and incredibly good for you. We stir nut butters through porridge at breakfast, snack on them straight from the jar, spread them on slices of apple and blend them with frozen banana and yoghurt to make healthy ice creams. You can even mix them into salad dressings or marinades for meat.
“Like most people, we aim to live well. Dan and I cook from scratch and enjoy natural, healthy food. So when we came to realise that many of the nut butters on supermarket shelves are crammed with additives, are high in sugar and contain an array of unnecessary ingredients that are bad for both you and the environment – palm oil is high in saturated fat and can cause high cholesterol and heart disease, while its production is largely responsible for rainforest deforestation and habitat loss – we decided to try and make something better ourselves."
“In our spreads, we use a combination of 10 nuts and seeds, carefully chosen to complement each other in taste, nutritional value and health benefits. Our Superboost Spread took nearly four months to perfect – the test is whether it’s scrumptious enough to eat a whole jar in one go."
“We don’t dehull our seeds, which adds to the flavour and fibre content. And we never use additives – the nuts and seeds are simply slow roasted and ground together – so our spreads are naturally sugar-, salt-, gluten- and dairy-free, and vegan."
“Our latest product is a snack pack containing our Cocoa Boost – a spread made of slow roasted peanuts, cocoa nibs and chia seeds – and air-dried orange slices. It’s our healthy take on a chocolate orange!"
“Our motto is ‘Feel Good, Do Good’. In the UK more than 3.5 million children live in poverty and more than 500,000 go to school hungry every day. So, aside from giving all these great nutritional benefits, with every Jake’s Boost sale we donate a percentage of the profits to Make Lunch – a charity giving children in need in this country a nutritious breakfast – and thus a brighter future.”
ANSJE'S TOP NUTS
- WalnutsAs well as being a source of anti-inflammatory omega-3 essential fatty acids, they supply your body with 25% of your daily copper requirement. Copper is needed to produce red blood cells and is vital for the absorption of iron.
- Brazil nuts High in fibre (aids weight loss and regulates the digestive system), vitamin E (protects skin from harmful oxygen-free radicals) and selenium, a mineral ensuring proper functioning of the thyroid gland (controls hormone production and the metabolism).
- Pecans Truly a nutty powerhouse! They contain 19+ essential vitamins and minerals and are a hugely rich source of vitamin B3. This helps the body to turn food into energy – great for fighting fatigue. The plant sterols in pecans have a cholesterol-lowering ability.
For more info and to buy, visit jakesboost.com
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