Combining her PhD in biomedicine from Harvard and her passion for promoting science-based benefits of spices and inspiring their use in everyday food, Kanchan Koya’s knowledge and enthusiasm can be found in her cookbook, Spice Spice Baby. It’s also the name of her website.
Her advocacy for spices also informs her work as a holistic health coach, receiving her certification from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. Not only does Koya believe many people are intimidated by how and when to use spices, but also underestimate children’s receptiveness to spices in their food. Koya wants to expand your palate to expand your health. As Koya says, “Spices are nature’s pantry and pharmacy in one.”
This sentiment was crystalized while Koya was in graduate school. There she realized all the ancient wisdom passed down from her family to her about the health-giving properties of spices, particularly while a child in India listening to her elders, was also being validated by scientific evidence.
Juggling multiple hats, when not working, she can be found cooking and eating said food, running, practicing yoga, or walking around her sweet and soulful Brooklyn neighborhood with her husband and two kids.
