Nutrition Is the Key to the Energized Body

Denise Costello’s passion is nutrition and healthy living. You might run into her at the talking about the benefits of goji berries as she sells you a tub of her Sweet Potato Hummus. She’s also seen around town, giving presentations on nutrition and healthy eating. Her passion feeds her business, The Energized Body.

She remembers the moment when nutrition became central to her life. She was in her kitchen, listening to NPR on the radio and feeding her twins in their high chairs. She heard a story about cancer rates in children and recalls thinking, “I have to figure out how to keep my kids healthy and get the right foods into them.”

That’s when she created one of her signature mixes, a nut mix featuring raw almonds, walnuts and pumpkin seeds. She fed the nut mix to her kids and also started giving it as gifts to family and friends.

“Everyone went crazy over it and said, ‘You should package this stuff,’” Costello recalls.

She is a registered nurse who began her career in the Air Force and served in the Gulf War. She later married a Navy pilot, became a yogi, developed an interest in integrative medicine, and went on to get a Master’s degree in Exercise Physiology.

Now, the mother of three lives in Winchester and runs the Energized Body, selling her nutrition products through her website and in-person at the farmers markets. She recently created a farm-to-table series at the Winchester farmers market, offering recipes and tips to market shoppers.

Costello gives nutrition presentations to groups and organizations, integrating tips, recipes, and a little yoga. Last fall, she offered a Fit Foodie presentation on getting through the holidays with energy and peace. She also runs what she calls Nutrition Boot Camp, a four-week nutrition education course for women including weekly meetings and nutrition guidelines. For those without the time for meetings, Boot Camp in a Box is offered through her website.

Costello said her nutrition education focuses on moms: “Moms are the hub of the family. If you work on the mother and you give her the tools, it trickles down.”

As a mom herself, she’s practical about making changes, advocating gradual shifts. “If you’re eating iceberg lettuce, switch to romaine,” Costello said. “If you’re on romaine, go to loose leaf spinach. So there are stages.”

If people are resistant to change, she knows just how to coax them into it.

“Everybody loves food,” she said. “You start in the kitchen. You let them taste things, and that’s the first step.”