Episode 58: How to spice up your family’s life and food, with Spice Spice Baby creator Kanchan Koya
Episode Description
Today on the podcast I am speaking with a mama who has her PHD in Molecular Biology from Harvard. Kanchan Koya, who calls herself the Spice Mama on Instagram specializes in Integrative Nutrition, and wholeheartedly believes that food can be the best and most profound preventative medicine. Growing up in India, where spices are used quite frequently, she decided to found Spice Spice Baby, upon becoming a mother, a platform dedicated to shedding light on the healing potential of spices, illuminating their powers on a wide scale, and inspiring their use in in food for families. For instance, did you know that Tumeric cancer-fighting powers!?
Kanchan believes being a soul mamma means following our inner calling, moving through fears, and living purposeful, present lives to model for our kids. She also believes it isn’t always easy to stay in alignment and that it take practice, mindfulness and kindness towards ourselves.
You can find her experimenting with spices in her kitchen, enjoying a sweaty yoga class, or sipping a glass of wine in Brooklyn, New York, where she lives with her husband and two kids. She is part of the Creators Program at Buzzfeed Tasty creating recipes and digital content for a global audience of millions. She also is a fellow podcast mom! She recently launched the Momlight podcast focused on health and wellness for moms.
Kanchan Koya has a doctorate in Molecular Biology from Harvard Medical School, training from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, and knows that food can be the best and most powerful preventative medicine. While studying DNA repair as a PhD student, Kanchan’s lab began studying the cancer-fighting powers of curcumin, the active compound in the ancient spice, turmeric. This sparked Kanchan’s interest in the science-backed health benefits of spices, which she had grown up enjoying on a daily basis in India. Upon becoming a mother, she founded Spice Spice Baby, a platform dedicated to shedding light on the healing potential of spices, demystifying them for a global audience, and inspiring their use in food for the whole family. Kanchan’s recipes are original, eclectic, nutritious, and packed with spice. She is part of the Creators Program at Buzzfeed Tasty creating recipes and digital content for a global audience of millions. She recently launched the Momlight podcast focused on health and wellness for moms.
Take-Aways
11:24:
Reflecting on the cross roads in her life where she went from academia (Harvard PHD in Molecular Biology) to following her passion for food and spies.
13:20
Naysayers, and worrying what people will think. Why it was important for her to listen to her inner voice.
17:48
How the softening and letting go of motherhood allowed her to be softer in many facets of her life.
20:19
Enough-ness. How it’s easy to feel we aren’t enough and why it is important to not be our own worst critics.
27:01
How her businesses have morphed because of her kids.
38:26
Finding a middle ground as a family with food and “treats.”
Memorable Quotes
“I think I welcomed all of that internal turmoil as an invitation to go deeper into this wound. I think that I had felt like I had to perform to be loved.”
“So I did a lot of work. It took awhile. It took a couple of years before I could step into this new passion and really own it and really feel like it’s me singing my song.”
“The softening of motherhood has extended to other parts of my life, which has been really a beautiful thing.”
“Letting go in motherhood doesn’t have to mean complacency. It can just mean letting go a little and letting things flow. Remarkable things have happened for me in my entrepreneurial path when I’ve softened and let go a little.”
“It’s taken a lot of work in awareness and sometimes I slip off and feel very stressed out about the fact that I am not enough. Now I just make sure I pay attention to this inner dialogue.”