Dietitian streaking ahead in Masterchef NZ

Nadia Lim is combining flavour and elements of healthy eating to wow judges and audiences alike.

Budding chef and registered dietitian Nadia Lim describes her take on cooking with a healthy twist as “maximising mindful eating”, an approach which has secured her a place as one of this year’s finalists in ratings winner Masterchef NZ.

Nadia inhabits two apparently separate worlds. Her day job as a clinical dietitian working with people suffering from diabetes is a stark contrast to the world of chefs, where meals are prepared with pricey ingredients and lashings of butter and salt.

She says that having training in nutrition and health has not advantaged her in the Masterchef kitchen as much as her life-long love of cooking has.

“In fact, my knowledge of nutrition has actually made things more tricky, with items like butter, cream and salt being such key ingredients in the chef’s pantry”, says Nadia.

But it’s not all a contradiction.

“As dietitians we rightly encourage people to reduce and moderate their intake of such things, but I firmly believe all ingredients have their place when used in moderation. Food needs to be seasoned adequately for it to have optimal taste, and having the skills to cook our own food means we at least know how much salt we are consuming.”

Dietitians also encourage people to re-think their portion sizes and to eat mindfully and slowing down to savour smaller portions of food. In terms of health benefits, these skills are at least as important as what the food is made of.

Nadia’s main passion, and something she hopes to develop further, is teaching people how to cook healthy food.

“I’m passionate about motivating people to lead a healthy lifestyle. However I find that giving them advice about what they should be eating isn’t enough as they often don’t know how to cook even basic things like pumpkin soup. We’ve become quite dissociated from what we eat, and are often unaware of the components of our meals. It would be great to have the opportunity to work hands-on with people, teaching basic food selection and cooking skills to help them improve their health. I think cooking is one of the most vital skills for our health, yet sadly it is a skill lost on many”.

Her new-found fame has helped keep attendance at Nadia’s diabetes clinic full, though many patients wait until the end of the appointment to sheepishly enquire “how’s the cooking going?”