Graduate Spotlight

Alain Braux, Bachelor of Science in Holistic Nutrition graduate

How did you become interested in natural health/holistic nutrition?

A few years ago, I owned and operated the Amandine French Bakery and Café. Two of my assistants there asked me to put more vegetarian dishes on the menu. After creating them, I became interested in the effect that food has on the body. Before that, I was a classically trained French chef, and my primary goal was to make great-tasting foods and desserts, but I didn’t understand the connection between food and health.

How did you decide on CCNH in particular… and how has this experience worked for you as a student?

I found myself wanting to learn more about nutrition and get more experience in the food-health connection after studying macrobiotics for three years. I researched natural health schools and chose CCNH for the quality of its programs. Since I never received a formal education in the United States, I wasn’t able to study at a more traditional college. I had responsibilities to my family as well as a full-time job, so distance education made the most sense to me.

Have your studies involved a career change, job enhancement, and/or personal healing?

I went from being strictly a French chef to becoming a chef-instructor at a culinary school, and I taught nutrition courses as well as other courses there. When I found my current job at Peoples Pharmacy, it was a match made in heaven. They originally hired me to improve the quality of their offerings, moving from mostly frozen/refrigerated products to scratch-made foods. I strongly recommended that we also switch to as many organic supplies as we could. Eventually, I developed my own niche by creating gluten-free, dairy-free, and low-sugar or sugar-free products. I am now known in Austin as the “Gluten-free Chef”!

Describe your “dream” career.

It’s starting to happen as we speak! I finally mustered the courage to write my first book, called How to Lower Your Cholesterol with French Gourmet Food: A Practical Guide. And I’ve started a private practice as a nutritherapist. Unlike a nutritionist, I help my clients with food and diet only. I’ve been privileged to work with people who have issues related to ADD/ADHD, diabetes, cholesterol, and complex food allergies. I’ve also worked with someone who has liver cancer, and in the near future, I will be working with two people who have Celiac disease. My next book is tentatively titled How to Live Gluten- and Dairy-Free with French Gourmet Food, and it will be aimed at helping Celiac, gluten-free, dairy-free, and autistic clients. I’m very excited to add my two “centimes” worth of knowledge to the pot.

Are you a teacher/coach in a health-related field?

At the Whole Foods Market and the Central Market in Austin, I teach hands-on classes on gluten-free baking and gluten- and dairy-free French classical desserts. I also give demonstrations based on my first book, on lowering cholesterol.

What would you like to convey about your applications of mind/body/spirit health, as relates to work philosophy/professional life?

Just read my book, it’s all in there! Joking aside, I firmly believe that healthy food can and should taste good and be wonderful to eat. In the French way, I want to teach people that joie de vivre and health food can coexist. All the recipes I give to my clients follow this rule. They completely forget that the food is healthy for them, they enjoy it so much! This helps them lead a “normal” life without feeling deprived.

What would you like to convey about your experience with natural health practices as it relates to personal/family health?

Even though I was raised in this particular way of thinking and eating, it took me a long time to “get it.” But one day, it all made sense — clear as spring water. I feel like I’m fulfilling a higher calling when I help my clients now. My newly found goal is to help as many people as possible discover the pleasure of eating healthy food. This is nothing new. Hippocrates said it best: “Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food.”

Have you mentored, been mentored, or would you like to become a mentor within any area of natural health?

I can’t say I’ve been mentored unless you’re talking about my grandmother, who taught me without really “teaching” me that the best food is the food you grow in your own kitchen garden, prepared within minutes of being freshly picked. I haven’t mentored anyone yet, but for the next few months, I will be working with an intern, who used to be a nurse. When she saw the kind of food that was served in hospitals, she came to the same conclusion I did a few years ago, and she decided to become a chef at a local culinary school, where she learned how to cook healthy food.

Who is your favorite author or leader within the field of natural health, and why?

It’s hard to pick, but two authors I like are George Mateljan, who wrote The World’s Healthiest Foods, and Jonny Bowden, who I like for his well-written books about food and health, such as The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth. Both of these authors are well into their 50s, like me, and that’s the other reason I like them. They showed me that “old folks” like us can still hack it!

Do you have a favorite quotation, health-related or not, that you’d like to share?

At the beginning of my book, there’s a quote by Mike Adams of NaturalNews.com: “The only packaged food I believe in is whole foods coming in Nature’s own packaging.” This quote is very inspiring for me.

What else is on YOUR list, as to “how to best tell the story of you”?

I am a 56-year-old classically trained chef. I’ve held all kinds of positions in the food industry, from washing pots and pans to running million-dollar companies. I’m a Certified Executive Pastry Chef with the American Chef Association and a Certified Master Baker with the American Bakers Association, and a pretty good chef in general (although not certified)! I’m also a closet drummer and I’ve been riding motorcycles for the past 40-plus years. I’ve been a bit of a “rebel without a clue” most of my life, but I feel that I’ve found my way now, and I’m pleased that I’ve finally found it after searching for years: creating a healthy world, one meal at a time.

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