Whole Body Reboot: The Peruvian Super Foods Diet To Detoxify, Energize, And Supercharge Fat Loss By Manuel Villacorta
Table of Contents
Stacey Chillemi
What inspired you to develop your new book, Whole Body Reboot?
Manuel Villacorta
I began this approach to weight loss and lifestyle change with my clients, incorporating Peruvian superfoods into their everyday lives. The smoothie plan is how I start of all my willing participants, and those who give it a try immediately reap the benefits. This book’s purpose is to spread this lifestyle regime, marrying the ideas of home-cooking and health.
Stacey Chillemi
Is there a difference between reboot and detox? What does reboot mean?
Manuel Villacorta
The difference between these two terms, to me, is that detox claims the removal of unwanted chemicals in the body, while reboot suggests the feeling your body experiences when you give your body a break from the constant stress we put into our bodies through the food choices we make. My 5-day reboot plan consists of five smoothies with different colored fruits and vegetables featured each day so that your body receives the widest array of nutrients while revitalizing the cells. By giving your body these much need nutrients, you will begin to feel cleaner, more focused, and you will lose weight. Given that no one food, herb, or remedy has the ability to cure ailments or disease, nor does it have the ability to ‘detox’ the body (that’s the liver’s job), I have followed the reboot with several customized and delicious Peruvian-inspired 7-day meal plans that you mix and match to your tastes and needs, whether you are male or female, an omnivore, vegetarian or vegan, or you follow a gluten-free lifestyle.
Stacey Chillemi
What is your definition of a “superfood?”
Manuel Villacorta
There are many definitions of superfoods, and although there is no scientific definition, I define superfoods as hardworking, functional foods that far surpass basic nutritional content. They are, quite simply, the cleanest, most powerful, antioxidant-rich, phytonutrient-rich and anti-aging foods available anywhere. And many of these nutrient-rich ingredients happen to come from South America, and more specifically Peru.
Stacey Chillemi
Do you think any of the 21 superfoods will shock Americans?
Manuel Villacorta
Absolutely! Although many of these foods were presented in my last book, Peruvian Power Foods, I have added potent guests to this list, hoping to enlighten the American public of a wider array of nutrients. However unique and unfamiliar the food, I decided to stick to foods that were attainable in the United States. For example, while the pichuberry is still very new here in the United States, it can now be purchased in mainstream markets like Bristol Farms, Safeway, Whole Foods and Vons in California, Arizona, and Nevada. It can also be purchased online and shipped anywhere in the country. The pichuberry is possibly one of the greatest superfruits available in the United States.
Stacey Chillemi
We’ve heard about the health benefits of adopting the traditional diets of Mediterranean and Asian countries. Why aren’t more Americans familiar with the health benefits of eating like a Peruvian?
Manuel Villacorta
Eating like a Peruvian from Lima is very different from eating like someone who is Andean or Amazonian. While the cuisine from Lima has fallen into a very westernized pattern, those from the Andes and Amazon regions have been eating the same foods for hundreds of years. However, only recently has the research on native foods such as lucuma, pichuberries and camu camu to name a few, surfaced. Americans aren’t familiar with adopting such a diet because the research is still new.
Stacey Chillemi
Are all of the recipes in your book Peruvian?
Manuel Villacorta
No. The recipes all contain Peruvian superfoods, but each recipe is inspired by a variety of cuisines. Some are Peruvian, some are Thai, and many are American-influenced. For instance, I recreated a waffle recipe into a sweet potato waffle. I take traditional foods and make them more flavorful and healthier.
Stacey Chillemi
Is your book a diet book?
Manuel Villacorta
No, my book is not a diet book, and it is definitely not a fad or a gimmick. This book is more a lifestyle approach to sustainable, long-term health. It gives my readers the ability to develop skills and knowledge that will help carry them on through the years, in the most independent way.
Stacey Chillemi
What sets your book apart from other cookbooks?
Manuel Villacorta
Not only do I offer 135 recipes, but I offer individualized 7-day meal plans that the reader can pick and choose from. I also give health advice, given I am much more of a dietitian than a cook. I tell the reader WHY eating these foods are beneficial, not just HOW to cook them. However, just because I am a dietitian does not mean I kill flavor for health; rather, I marry the two and this book is their journey together.
About Manuel Villacorta:
Health is not a diet plan, but a lifestyle. Understand your body, your strengths, and your limits and use this knowledge to make a change. Stop dieting, start living.
— Manuel Villacorta
Registered Dietitian. Educator. Author. Speaker. Spokesperson.
A nationally recognized, award-winning registered dietitian with more than 16 years of experience as a nutritionist, Manuel Villacorta, M.S., R.D., is a respected and trusted voice in the health and wellness industry. He is the founder of Eating Free, an international weight management and wellness program, and one of the leading weight loss and nutrition experts in the country. He is the author of Eating Free: The Carb-Friendly Way to Lose Inches, Embrace Your Hunger, and Keep the Weight off for Good (HCI, May 2012) and Peruvian Power Foods: 18 SSuperfoods 101 Recipes, and Anti-aging Secrets from the Amazon to the Andes (HCI, October 2013).
Manuel served as a national media spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (2010-2013) and currently acts as a health blog contributor for The Huffington Post, an on-air contributor to the Univision television network, and a health and lifestyle contributor for Fox News Latino. Manuel is the owner of San Francisco-based private practice, MV Nutrition and the recipient of five ”Best Bay Area Nutritionist” awards from the San Francisco Chronicle, ABC7, and Citysearch.
His warm, approachable style and his bilingual proficiency in English and Spanish have made him an in-demand health and nutrition expert on local and national television and radio channels, as well as in articles appearing in print publications and online. Manuel is a compelling, charismatic speaker.
Manuel has acted as a media representative for food companies such as Foster Farms, Eggland’s Best “California Latino 5-A-Day Program” and “Got Milk.” He is now the chief of public relations and spokesperson for the Pichuberry Company.
