By Bhavika Patel
Jigisha was born in India and moved to the UK when she was 14 years old. She was raised in a Gujarati family and was accustomed to eating traditional Gujarati food, ladoo’s and savouries. It was only when she reached 27 and lost her mother to Cancer did she realise the importance of diet and healthy eating.
“I lost my mum to Cancer and everything happened in a matter of months. Since then, I have spoken to a lot of doctors and nutritionists about the power of natural raw foods. Many doctors would agree that diet and lifestyle choices are a contributing factor to our overall health” she says.
Jigisha is focused on raising awareness of Asian lifestyle diseases, providing one to one and group coaching sessions. Her aim is to educate the Asian community on healthy eating, making the correct nutritional choices and combining it with the mind, body and spirit. She does this through Healthier By Farr, a Stoke based company which has opened a new office in Leicester. “I can come to your home and demonstrate the healthy cooking systems, recipes and coach you through the entire process of a new and exciting way of cooking. And there is absolutely no charge for the demonstration” she says. They also provide cooking schools aimed at educating people to cook healthy recipes, they provide demonstrations and you get to eat the food. Jigisha travels around the country to offer her help.
Jigisha is passionate about coaching and healthy eating. “It has been very close to my heart.” She recognises the many lifestyle diseases linked to the Asian lifestyle, and understands the difficulty and fear there is around change. Asian households pass down traditional cooking methods, cooking with ghee and butter. Her focus is to eliminate these and show people that they can cook all the foods they enjoy without oil, butter and fat. This can prevent diabetes, obesity, cholesterol to name a few of the diseases our community face in this day and age. And although there are many contributing factors, diet and lifestyle choices can make a huge difference. “We don’t always have the answer, but we always have the choice” she says in a positive manner. By using “food as medicine,” you can witness the miracles of what natural foods can achieve. She focuses on the prevention of diseases rather than a cure.
Jigisha has shown how an individual’s positive attitude, passion and motivation can inspire many generations. She is committed to her work and says “if I can make a little difference by inspiring, motivating and encouraging people, I would feel that I’ve accomplished my mission, and it would be a great tribute to my mother. If I can become instrumental to bringing positive change in the lives of others, then that would be the greatest accomplishment of my life.”
If you are inspired by Jigisha’s story and want to get in touch with her, she is happy to receive calls on 07716665353 or email tjiggs202@hotmail.com.
